Smart Grid Blog

“The basic structure of the present grid has changed little over its hundred-year history. The U.S. grid, which is operated by over 3100 electric utilities using equipment and systems from hundreds of suppliers, has historically not had much emphasis on standardization and thus incorporates many proprietary interfaces and technologies that result in the equivalents of stand-alone silos.

Transforming this infrastructure into an interoperable system capable of supporting the nation’s vision of extensive distributed and renewable resources, energy efficiency, improved reliability and electric transportation may well be described by future generations as the first great engineering achievement of the 21st century.”

via News on IEC 61850 and related Standards: NIST Smart Grid Architecture and Interoperability Standards – What has been accomplished?.

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.

It takes time to hammer out an agreement, but progress is occurring.

That’s the word from John McDonald, the general manager of the transmission and distribution business at General Electric and the chair of the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel Governing Board at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

via NIST’s Smart Grid Standards: A Work in Progress : Greentech Media.

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.

National Technical Systems (NTS) Completes ZigBee Smart Energy Certification Testing for SimpleHomeNet Appliance
Rapidly Expanding Smart Grid Compliance Testing Market Is Key NTS Initiative

National Technical Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTSC) (NTS), a leading provider of engineering services, announced today that it recently completed ZigBee Smart Energy certification testing for a feature-rich, wireless electric load controller manufactured by SimpleHomeNet, a division of Compacta International. The tests were run at the NTS laboratory in Culver City, CA. Following completion of the certification tests, the ZigBee Alliance reviewed the test results submitted by NTS and the application submitted by SimpleHomeNet and certified the load controller.

NTS is the market leader in ZigBee smart energy certification testing and one of only three companies worldwidewith rights designated by the ZigBee Alliance to test wireless products for ZigBee Smart Energy certification. Completion of the certification tests for SimpleHomeNet is another example of NTS' expanding leadership in the burgeoning testing market for ZigBee Smart Energy.

ZigBee Smart Energy is the market leading wireless home area network (HAN) standard with more than 40 million smart meters being installed around the world. Last year, it was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as an initial interoperable standard for HAN devices. ZigBee has also been adopted by over 350 global manufacturers andthere is a large total potential market of 1.5 billion devices that could be installed in homes worldwide for energy management and demand response, according to a recently published report by ON World.

Smart energy device testing is a rapidly expanding global industry and a growing market for NTS,said NTS Chief Executive Office William McGinnis. The U.S. Department of Energy has allocated $30 billion as part of a national energy initiative backed by national utility companies, which is expected toencourage the development and certification of a broad range of smart energy products McGinnis said.

ZigBee Smart Energy certification demonstrates that a wireless product such as a load controller, or other wireless device, is compliant with the ZigBee Smart Energy standard that was created by energy experts and ZigBee Alliance members. ZigBee members include Ember, Freescale, Texas Instruments, Landis & Gyr, Itron, Cisco, General Electric, Honeywell, Intel, Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Philips, Samsung Electronics, Siemens, Sony and many other leading corporations around the world.

“This is already a large, rapidly growing market and an expanding list of companies is committed to the smart energy path, which we believe is a good opportunity for us,” McGinnis added. “We not only provide the test services, but we also design the test tools to simulate the functions of the appliances that allow our clients to do self-testing. We have a full solution for our clients with software testing and validation and multiple engineering services.”

Remotely controlled, wireless appliances such as thermostats, meters, load controllers, pool pumps, water heaters and display units designed for homeowners as part of a HAN are key components of a smart grid created to reduce energy usage, increase reliability and cut costs for consumers, said NTS Chief Technology Officer Osman Sakr. The NTS testing demonstrates that the appliances work together properly and can accurately show how much energy is being used, thereby allowing a consumer to manage energy efficiently.

Al Choperena, President and CEO of Compacta International, said the NTS testing and ZigBee Smart Energy certification of its load controller “is a key milestone in our ZigBee product roadmap and signals our strong commitment to the future of the smart grid. To date, our certification efforts have been on track thanks to our ongoing partnership with NTS.”

via NTS – National Technical Systems, Inc. – Investors – Financial News.

Version 1 of a 400-page document on how utilities and vendors should secure the smart grid is due this summer, and the 450 volunteers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s cybersecurity working group are girding themselves for the final push.

Some of them have been meeting this week at a smart grid conference in Silicon Valley and have had some intense discussions on what needs to be done.

via Tracking the security of the smart grid – SmartPlanet.

An array of hurdles ranging from making communications gear secure to understanding consumer behaviors stand in the way of flipping on smart electric grids, according to a panel of experts at the Embedded Systems Conference.

“Going forward a myriad of issues need to be worked,” said George Arnold, national coordinator for smart grid standards at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

via EETimes.com – ESC: Smart grid faces security, consumer challenges.

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.

This is a question that everybody wants to know the answer to – and everyone seems to have a different opinion! Many companies are waiting for a single communications technology to be universally selected before adding ‘smart’ functionality to their products. In contrast, other companies have adopted a more modular approach to their products, enabling easier transition if alternative technologies become predominant. Lisa Arrowsmith, Market Analyst at IMS Research comments, “While the general acceptance of a single technology for smart home applications would make device manufacturers' lives easier, this is not necessarily the reality we will see. Despite this, IMS Research forecasts that over 90 million ICs will be shipped for ‘smart’ devices in the 2009-2014 period”. via Smart Home Connectivity – Talking the Same Language?.

The smart grid community saw a major meeting of the minds today: the ZigBee Alliance and Wi-Fi Alliance have teamed up to develop applications for home energy management and networking.

Both ZigBee and Wi-Fi are wireless protocols that allow electronic devices, smart meters and utilities to wirelessly send data back and forth. This is the foundation of the burgeoning smart grid: the ability of utilities to receive data directly from their customers’ meters and for consumers to have access to the same data so they can conserve energy and save money off their monthly bills.

via ZigBee, Wi-Fi join forces to kick home energy management up a notch | VentureBeat.

Australia in the crossfire as standards bodies step in to secure smart grid.

The US Government and regulators could be forced to intervene in a battle of wills between whitegoods appliance makers and Silicon Valley consumer electronics companies that threatens to derail America's smart grid rollout and place Australia in its crossfire.

via CE and whitegoods vendors at war over smart grid standards – Networking – Technology – News – iTnews.com.au.

As utilities around the world have initiated major smart grid infrastructure upgrades over the past several years, cyber security has become a critical priority. Security measures are designed to protect the electrical grid from attacks by terrorists and hackers, as well as strengthening its resilience against natural disasters and inadvertent threats such as equipment failures and user errors. The focus on cyber security has increased in recent months, spurred in large part by the U.S. Department of Energy’s smart grid stimulus programs, the standards initiatives of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and key priorities promoted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

via Smart Grid Cyber Security Applications | My Efficient Planet.

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, has launched a public forum to solicit comments on the nation’s evolving smart electric power grid — specifically the size, shape and requirements of a consumer interface with the smart grid.

According to the OSTP, the Executive Branch wants to know options: all the possibilities available to consumers interfacing with a smart grid that can provide enough information for choice, control and optimization of energy use.

via Smart grid customer interface feedback requested by NIST – Utility Automation/Electric Light & Power.

Smart meters have been undergoing a bit of a consumer backlash lately — and that could open the door for alternative ways to bring energy data to homeowners. Certainly the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the federal entity setting smart grid standards, seems to want to look for ways outside the smart meter to bring consumers and the smart grid closer together.

NIST is launching a new blog to open an industry dialogue around the “customer interface to the Smart Grid.”

via Count the Ways to Connect Consumers to the Smart Grid | Tech News From All Over The Net.

In Washington, where big brains often confront such matters, it’s understood that a smart grid rollout could overwhelm current safeguards for privacy and data security. News that the government is working on it may calm some fears — or might not, depending on one’s faith in federal initiatives.

via Feds Moving Forward on Smart Grid Security and Privacy : Greentech Media.

The Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issued today the second draft of its Smart Grid Cyber Security Strategy and Requirements, which now identifies more than 120 interfaces that will link diverse devices, systems and organizations engaged in two-way flows of electricity and information and classifies these connections according to the level of damage that could result from a security breach.

Prepared by the NIST-led Cyber Security Working Group, which has more than 350 members, the new draft report expands upon an earlier preliminary version, which was released by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke last September and underwent 60 days of public review. It incorporates responses to the more than 350 individual comments received.

via NIST Issues Expanded Draft of Smart Grid Cyber Security Strategy For Public Review and Comment.

It can be done.

That’s the word from John McDonald, the general manager of the transmission and distribution business at General Electric and the newly appointed chair of the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel Governing Board at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Last September, NIST announced plans to establish 77 smart grid standards over the next few years and finalize 14 priority standards in 2010 alone.

via A Chat with the Man Who Will Keep Smart Grid on Track : Greentech Media.

As “SNL”’s Seth and Amy used to say: Really?! That was my reaction when I first read the findings from a report issued by NanoMarkets this morning; it claims that U.S. government’s policies and regulations are slowing down the smart grid market. Specifically the report says that the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) efforts to set standards for the smart grid is acting as a drag on the market.

via Report: Government Smart Grid Standards Process Slowing Down the Market.

It’s been a while since I’ve written much of anything smart grid related that didn’t directly deal with the successful Smart Grid Summit held in conjunction with TMC’s (News – Alert) ITEXPO East last week in Miami.

But, when I came across news that Nanomarkets reported that the stall behind the continual evolution of the smart grids market is in fact the U.S. government and its policies and regulations, I wanted to briefly discuss its effect on the space.

via Smart Grid.