Smart Grid Blog

Good morning Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, I am John McDonald, Director, Technical Strategy and Policy Development, with GE Energy’s Digital Energy business. In this role, I set and drive the vision that integrates standards, policy, regulatory and industry participation with customer solutions development at Digital Energy.

My comments today are based upon my more than three decades of experience working in the electric power industry, my position at GE and my numerous industry leadership roles. These include Past President of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Power & Energy Society, current member of the Department of Energy (DoE) Smart Grid Electricity Advisory Committee, current Board Member of The GridWise Alliance and the IEEE – SA (Standards Association), and current Chair of the Governing Board of the NIST Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP).

via House Science and Technology Subcommittee on Technology & Innovation Hearing | TradingMarkets.com.

IEEE, the world's largest professional association for the advancement of technology, today announced that John McDonald, IEEE Fellow and Director of Technical Strategy and Policy Development for GE’s Digital Energy business; gave testimony on the progress of standards for Smart Grid interoperability and cyber security before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation, House Committee on Science and Technology. Held July 01, 2010, the hearing was entitled Smart Grid Architecture and Standards: Assessing Coordination and Progress.

via Your Industry News – IEEE Fellow John McDonald Gives Testimony on Progress of Standards Development and Cyber Security for Smart Grid.

The vision of a smarter grid is of course a lovely thing to behold: an electric power system that’s much more interactive, interoperable, reliable, and robust—“self-healing,” even. That’s why so much excitement attended the news this time last year that the U.S. stimulus bill would contain billions of dollars in new funding to support smart grid construction, and the news six months later than the National Institute for Standards and Technology was issuing draft standards and a roadmap for completing standardization of the smart grid (the Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards, issued in final form in January). And it’s the reason too why such high expectations ride on the avalanche of smart meter installation projects launched in the last year.

via IEEE Spectrum: Smart Grid Proof?.

The 1st IEEE International Conference on Smart Grid Communications (SmartGridComm) will be held 4 – 6 October 2010 at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA. Sponsored by the IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc), the IEEE SmartGridComm conference focuses on all communications aspects that are relevant to the Smart Grid. IEEE SmartGridComm aims at bringing together researchers from Academia, Industry, and National Labs to exchange novel ideas, explore enabling technologies, analyze theoretical issues, discuss open problems, propose innovative designs, and share field trial experiences and lessons learned. The General Co-Chairs of IEEE SmartGridComm are Dr. George Arnold (NIST, National Coordinator for Smart Grid Interoperability) and Dr. Stefano Galli (Panasonic, Lead Scientist).

via Don’t miss IEEE conference on smart grid communication.

In the home networking standards game, the HomePlug Powerline Alliance is sometimes overshadowed by Home Phoneline Networking Alliance and the Multimedia over Coax Alliance, but a closer relationship with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is raising its profile.

This week, the IEEE P1901 Working Group passed an initial sponsor ballot that moves the group closer to a likely third-quarter final approval of the standard, for which the HPPA’s HomePlug AV specification was used as the baseline technology. That approval will formalize ensured interoperability between 1901 and HomePlug AV products, and bring HomePlug more into the IEEE’s highly-marketable family of standards that also includes Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

via HomePlug powers onward as connected home play.

Worth noting that the IEEE P1901 Working Group – which is working on global standards for powerline networking – has given the thumbs-up to the current draft of the standard.

A final version of the IEEE 1901 powerline networking standard should be available in the third quarter.

via Getting things together on the smart grid networking front | GreenTech Pastures | ZDNet.com.

The HomePlug® Powerline Alliance congratulates the IEEE P1901 Working Group on passage of the initial sponsor ballot, paving the way for a global standard for powerline (PLC) networking. The ballot passed with over 80 percent of affirmative votes, which demonstrates the overwhelming industry support behind 1901. Final ratification of the standard is expected in the third quarter of 2010. The advancement of powerline technology to an internationally recognized IEEE standard will provide manufacturers and end-users with the assurance of product interoperability, driving broader adoption of PLC for home networking.

via HomePlug Powerline Technology Joins the Global Family of IEEE Standards | Business Wire.

There are two sets of standards for powerline communications – one for household wiring, the other for powerline communications – and the advocates for each are finally going to try to cooperate, with the Smart Grid program as a catalyst and the IEEE as a mediator.

The IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) said it is facilitating cooperation between the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, which has traditionally focused on home networking, and the HD-PLC Alliance, which has traditionally been more concerned with transmission on outdoor powerlines.

via Broadband on powerline standards to be bridged.

The 1st IEEE International Conference on Smart Grid Communications (SmartGridComm) will be held 4 – 6 October 2010 at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA.

Sponsored by theIEEE Communications Society (ComSoc), the worldwide professional organization dedicated to the advancement of communications technologies, the IEEE SmartGridComm conference focuses on all communications aspects that are relevant to the Smart Grid.

IEEE SmartGridComm aims at bringing together researchers from academia, industry, and national labs to exchange novel ideas, explore enabling technologies, analyze theoretical issues, discuss open problems, propose innovative designs, and share field trial experiences and lessons learned.

via IEEE initiates global conference on Smart Grid communications – Connector Specifier.

No question about it, the “smart grid” is a hot topic. It brings the potential to save energy and customer money, as well as reduces power-plant needs, and who can argue with that? Google is involved, the IEEE has a formal standards committee; all the industry players are getting in on the project. as one of the “next big things”.

via EETimes.com – ESC: Is the smart grid a little too smart for your own good?.

IEEE says its draft standard addressing electric-sourced transportation infrastructure, IEEE P1809, is being redesignated as IEEE P2030.1 and will join the organization’s IEEE P2030 smart grid family of standards.

via Renew Grid: Content / FYI / IEEE Redesignates Standard To Reflect Connection With Smart Grid.

IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional association, has launched the IEEE Smart Grid Web Portal, an integrated gateway to Smart Grid intelligence, education, and news from IEEE and other expert sources. The portal is designed for manufacturers, policymakers, educators, academics, governments, engineers, computer scientists, researchers, and other stakeholders in the power and energy, information technology, and communications industries.

via Dr. Dobb’s | IEEE Smart Grid Web Portal | January 29, 2010.

An IEEE working group has released Draft 2.0 of its P1901 broadband over power line standard. Publication of the draft is an indicator that the standard is as good as done, and ready for final publication and implementation.

via Smart Grid: IEEE Unveils Draft 2.0 of its BPL Standard.

The Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced today that John D. McDonald, general manager of marketing for GE Energy’s transmission and distribution business and an IEEE Fellow, will serve as chair of the governing board of the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel, the organization launched by NIST in November to sustain and coordinate development of interoperability standards for a modernized electric power grid.

via Governing Board of Smart Grid Standards Panel Announces Officers.

Efacec Advanced Control Systems — which for more than 32 years has conducted the industry’s most enduring user group meeting for utility executives and engineers –- applauds next week’s landmark “Conference on Innovative Smart Grid Technologies (ISGT).”

The workshop, the first sponsored by the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) and hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will be held January 19-21, 2010 in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

via Efacec Advanced Control Systems Endorses IEEE & NIST Smart Grid Workshop — ATLANTA, Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ –.

The dream of home connectivity, for functions such as home automation and smart grids, but without risking aerial hacking and dead spots and without costly and time-consuming drilling additional holes and fishing more wires is becoming closer to reality.

via Smart Grid.

At this week's CES show in Las Vegas, powerline communications (PLC) networking advocates got a nice win as the IEEE announced that it has released the P1901 Draft Standard for powerline communications.

via CES 2010: IEEE releases powerline communications draft standard – FierceTelecom.

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the “Role of Information and Communications Technologies in Building Smart Grid: Technologies and Markets” report to their offering. This report addresses multiple subjects associated with the development of Smart Grid ICT. It, particular, concentrates on the following items: * Standardization process: it is mostly at the beginning stage. Smart Grid technologies can improve the reliability, security, and efficiency of the electrical grid. Intelligent devices can automatically adjust to changing conditions to prevent blackouts and increase capacity. While currently available, a lack of standards and increased upfront cost hinder the deployment of smart grid technologies. Uniform standards will simplify new equipment selection and installation. The IEEE and all other major standard organizations are involved in the standardization process for Smart Grid ICT. There are also multiple industry groups, manufacturers’ consortiums and other organizations that are providing input. So far, the standards landscape is complex, with some duplications and lack of leadership. The picture, probably, will soon change when the ISO and IEEE come up with standards.

via Research and Markets: Role of Information and Communications Technologies in Building Smart Grid: Technologies and Markets | Reuters.

While Verizon Wireless and Qualcomm are starting a new joint venture to provide machine-to-machine (M2) wireless communications and smart services to a wide range of markets including utilities, the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) has hired an energy and environmental director to look at how the U.S. broadband/communications infrastructure and policies can support the nation’s energy and environmental goals.

These are just a couple of the recent developments in the world of smart grids.

The FCC has recently hired former venture capitalist Nick Sinai of Polaris Ventures as its energy and environmental director to create a National Broadband Task Force to evaluate the nation’s broadband/communications infrastructure and how it will enhance the smart grid, reports Fierce Telecom.

The biggest proponents for the smart grid are the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) and the IEEE , which jointly developed the Smart Grid Interoperability Standards Project P2030.

The FCC will develop rules and regulations for utility companies leveraging wireless spectrum and broadband access technologies, reports Fierce Telecom.

The Verizon Wireless and Qualcomm joint venture, yet to be named, will focus on smart services enabled by M2M capabilities. As an example, smart grid technology enables utilities to wirelessly connect to their grid assets such as circuit breakers, transformers and other sub-station equipment, allowing them to develop more interactive utility networks. Analysts peg the M2M market at more than 85 million connections globally by 2012, according to the companies.

via Broadband, Wireless Services to Play Vital Role in Smart Grid · Environmental Leader · Green Business, Sustainable Business, and Green Strategy News for Corporate Sustainability Executives.

Grid Net, a provider of policy-based network management system software and communications reference designs for the utility Smart Grid, has reportedly signed an agreement with Intellon Corporation for using its INT6400 chipset in its advanced communications technology for smart grid electricity meters.

Intellon Corporation is a provider of HomePlug-compatible integrated circuits (ICs) for home networking, networked entertainment, Ethernet-over-Coax (EoC) and smart grid applications. The INT6400 is an advanced IC offered by Intellon. It is said to have the lowest power consumption of any 200 Mbps PHY-rate HomePlug AV-class IC, and supports European 2011 Code of Conduct requirements for adapters and embedded products. The solution delivers higher TCP throughput and user friendly options with improved Quality of Service (QoS).

As per the terms of this deal, Intellon’s INT6400 Industrial temperature chipset will offer Home Area Network (HAN) communications capability for new smart meters.

“Intellon’s HomePlug AV powerline solutions provide reliable communications from smart meters into home area networks,” said Ray Bell, president of Grid Net.

“Most important, interoperability with the emerging IEEE (News – Alert) 1901 standard will ensure cost-effective, future-proof smart meter installations.”

via Smart Grid.