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Interoperability is the key to the Smart Grid. And standards are the key to interoperability. The greater the extent to which utilities, solutions vendors, and other stakeholders are involved in the development of interoperability standards, the sooner the true potential of the Smart Grid can be realized. This is the mission of the USB.
The Energy Independence and Security Act of December 2007 recognized the need for a “Smart Grid”, the modernization of the U.S. electricity system. One key requirement of the Smart Grid is the interoperability of the cyber systems used to manage our country’s power system. Interoperability among disparate computer systems can only be achieved through the use of internationally recognized communication and interface standards.
One analogy for computer-interoperability is human interoperability -- the ability of disparate people speaking different languages to communicate with each other. Just as international business meetings use English as the common “language” standard, computer systems need common cyber “language” standards in order to exchange information. Cyber standards have analogous components to human languages, namely nouns (data), verbs (messaging), and grammar (rules for exchanging messages). Additionally, societal rules guide humans on when to speak during meetings, (when a computer can send messages), how to manage security by limiting attendance at meetings (computer passwords and encryption), and the timeliness of meetings (timeliness of data exchanges).
One example of interoperability is the connection of a new printer or digital camera to a personal computer using an auto-run software program, where the integration is basically handled without human intervention. Unfortunately, the more complex interoperability levels needed to achieve the true potential of the Smart Grid do not currently exist.
Many standards bodies, including the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), American National Standards Institute (ANSI), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) are tackling interoperability issues impacting all industries, including the power industry.
Through its work, the USB is providing input and guidance to the international standards bodies in the development and implementation of these standards. Utilities need to take the lead in defining business process requirements, and specifying and testing the resulting standards in their operations. While hardware, firmware and software vendors may be technology experts, utilities have the crucial requirements expertise. The USB was formed specifically to provide utilities with an accelerated mechanism for driving standards development at the speed of utility business needs.
Utilities and solutions vendors must move forward regardless of whether or not the needed standards have been established or even exist. Lag time in the development of standards is inevitable. However, new technology projects are often specified, designed, and implemented without waiting for related standards to be developed. Additionally, many “legacy” systems cannot be cost-effectively upgraded or replaced in order to take advantage of relevant standards even when they do exist. Mechanisms must be put in place to maximize the benefits of establishing interoperability standards and minimize the delays and related expenses of implementing these new standards.
The USB has three work teams currently developing functional requirements and communications standards:
>> Meter and Headend Event Codes
>> Remote Connect/Disconnect
>> Outage Detection/Restoration
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"Just as international business meetings use English as the common “language” standard, computer systems need common cyber “language” standards in order to exchange information. ."
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