Smart Grid Today's Authoritative Guide to US Interoperability Standards
The industry's only in-depth, plain-English report on exactly how the process works, what has been decided, what is next on the agenda, how to have your say now and how to keep up with future developments
Market Research Report

Smart Grid Today's Authoritative Guide to US Interoperability Standards The industry's only in-depth, plain-English report on exactly how the process works, what has been decided, what is next on the agenda, how to have your say now and how to keep up with future developments Market Research Report

The smart grid is built on the idea that everything -- a smorgasbord of hardware and software -- will be able to talk to each other, to interact and to efficiently and securely operate together. Without interoperability, the smart grid and every company that seeks to use it or make money from it will struggle, at best, and fail at worst. Without uniform standards and the testing and certification of standards and products, interoperability does not exist and the potential of the smart grid is jeopardized.

Utilities are delaying grid modernization because they cannot afford to be stuck with obsolete technology once standards are set, according to Rik Drummond, CEO of Austin, Texas-based interop testing lab Drummond Group and a Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP) governing board member. Utility executives shudder at the possibility of what is sometimes called a "forklift upgrade," where the only manufacturer of a proprietary device being used in a deployment goes out of business and the only way to replace faulty units is to remove all the devices and start over with another company's wares.

IOUs have reminded us over the years that theirs is a highly dangerous product that they have been delivering with utmost safety for 100 years. In general, experimenting with fancy new technology is often not the most appealing endeavor for these very serious engineers and executives. Add to utilities' concerns the unique visions and sometimes very difficult decisions of their regulators, pushback from ratepayer advocates and last, but not least, having to answer to shareholders for their multimillion dollar spending decisions.

Manufacturers and network developers are postponing full-scale entrance into smart grid product creation for fear their devices or software might fail to meet standards once they are established, thus becoming unsalable. Investors are hesitating to put money into technology that could become obsolete. Add to that the fact that each US state has its own electric industry regulatory body and without the adoption of national smart grid standards, the US could someday see 50 different rules for building smart-grid-enabled appliances, says Brian Markwalter, Consumer Electronics Assn's senior VP of research and standards and a SGIP governing board member.

While the critical importance of interoperability standards is evident, the process that exists today in the US looks at times like a topsy-turvy mess. Hundreds of organizations as diverse as the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) issue standards are involved. New standards covering different aspects of the smart grid are being written and promoted nearly every day by one organization or another. They may or may not conflict. They may or may not lead to the creation of equipment and processes that are actually interoperable. An organization trying to pull everything together in the US is the SGIP, created and funded by NIST, a federal agency, under the Energy Independence & Security Act of 2007.

The purpose of "Smart Grid Today's Authoritative Guide to US Interoperability Standards" is to provide a guide for the busy and perhaps even confused executive who must make business decisions about the smart grid. In this exclusive industry report, Smart Grid Today makes clear and simple a process that is inherently complex. Smart Grid Today, the independent journal of the digital energy industry, has devoted hundreds of hours to researching the standards-setting process.

We have reviewed thousands of pages of documents, mixed and matched new information with daily reporting on interoperability standards over the last 30 months and conducted interviews with many key players. In "Smart Grid Today's Authoritative Guide to US Interoperability Standards" you will find the tools you need to navigate the standards-setting process, exactly what is going on, how the process and potential outcomes could affect your business, how you can keep up with future developments and how you can get involved if you decide to jump into standards debates and negotiations.

Testimonials:
Provides a useful overview on [NIST's and SGIP's] roles, relevant working groups and key leadership. A valuable baseline of information.
- Tim Healy, CEO, EnerNOC
An accessible, easy-to-follow and very practical guide. It makes sense of the hundreds of current and potential standards affecting the smart grid. ... Explains how standards are a process and an opportunity -- not must-build mandates.
- Chris King, CTO, EMeter

Key questions addressed in the report:

• Who is involved in the smart grid standards setting process?
• How are smart grid standards set?
• How can I get involved in the standard setting process and how can my business benefit from playing a role?
• What standards have been voted in, why, who owns them and what do they do?
• What standards have the best chance of passing next?
• How can I make business decisions based on interoperability standards?
• What is the SGIP, its structure, procedures and processes?
• What are the current standards, testing and certification system challenges and what can and is being done to overcome them? 
• How is conformity different from certification and how do I protect my company from the perils that fall between them?

Who needs this report?
- Utilities
- Energy service providers
- Product designers
- System integrators
- Consultants
- Vendors
- Investors
- Standards development organizations
- Government agencies

1. Standards-setting process involves SDOs, SGIP, ANSI
1.1. Overview
1.1.1. ANSI oversees all
1.1.2. The SGIP: an 'accelerant'
1.2. The Role of ANSI
1.2.1. Ideas move freely
1.2.2. Meeting 'essential requirements'
1.2.3. ANSI is a trusted name
1.3. Smart grid standards and the law
1.3.1. Is there enough consensus?
1.3.2. Get involved or risk mandates
1.4. A recommended strategy for the confused executive
1.4.1. Or better yet, play a role

2. Bulk of work by unelected body called SGIP is to come
2.1. A kind of congress
2.1.1. The congress made by Congress
2.1.2. Enter EnerNex
2.1.3. Most members from US
2.2. SGIP catalog of standards compared to PDR
2.2.1. Catalog fosters freedom to choose
2.3. Standards goals from EISA
2.4. How a standard gets Into the catalog
2.5. Understanding SGIP's structure
2.5.1. SGIP Plenary
2.5.2. SGIP Governing Board
2.5.3. Working Groups
2.5.4. Priority Action Plans
2.6. How to get involved in the SGIP

3. Where to find latest talk about relevant standards
3.1. Working groups
3.2. Domain expert working groups (DEWGs)
3.3. Specialty groups
3.4. Priority action plans (PAPs)
3.4.1. PAP 02: Wireless communication for the smart grid
3.4.2. PAP 03: Common specification for price and product definition
3.4.3. PAP 04: Common schedule communication mechanism for energy transactions
3.4.4. PAP 05: Standard meter data profiles
3.4.5. PAP 06: Translate ANSI C12.19 to and from a common semantic model
3.4.6. PAP 07: Energy storage interconnection
3.4.7. PAP 08: CIM/61850 for distribution grid management
3.4.8. PAP 09: Standard DR and DER signals
3.4.9. PAP 10: Standard energy usage information
3.4.10. PAP 12: Mapping IEEE 1815 (DNP3) to IEC 61850 objects
3.4.11. PAP 13: Harmonization of IEEE C37.118 with IEC 61850 and precision time synchronization
3.4.12. PAP 14: Transmission and distribution power systems model mapping
3.4.13. PAP 15: Harmonize power line carrier standards for appliance communications in the home
3.4.14. PAP 16: Wind plant communications
3.4.15. PAP 17: Facility smart grid information standard
3.4.16. PAP 18: SEP 1.x to SEP 2 transition and coexistence

4. 9 Standards cross finish line; 4 inch closer
4.1. Already in the catalog
4.1.1. NEMA SG-AMI 1: requirements for smart meter upgradeability
4.1.2. NAESB REQ 18/WEQ19 PAP 10 energy usage information
4.1.3. SAE J1772-2010 electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle conductive charge coupler
4.1.4. SAE J2836/1 use cases for communication between plug-In vehicles and the utility grid
4.1.5. IETF RFC 6272: core Protocols in the Internet Protocol Suite
4.1.6. NIST IR 7761: guidelines for assessing wireless standards for smart grid applications
4.1.7. IEEE Std C37.238-2011: standard profile for use of IEEE 3 Std. 1588 precision time protocol in power system applications
4.1.8. OASIS WS-Calendar: common schedule communication mechanism for energy transactions
4.1.9. SAE 2847-1: communication between plug-in vehicles and the utility grid

4.2. What Comes Next
4.2.1. IEEE Std. 1815-2010: standard for electric power systems
4.2.2. Communications -- distributed network protocol (DNP3)
4.2.2.1. SGIP 2011-0008-1: SEP 1.x to SEP 2.0 transition and coexistence white paper
4.2.2.2. IEEE C37.239-2010 standard for common format for event data exchange (COMFEDE) for power systems
4.2.2.3. IEC/TR 61850-90-5: use of IEC 61850 to transmit synchrophasor information according to IEEE C37.118

5. 'Conformant' can send false interoperability signals
5.1. Testing lets interoperability exist
5.1.1. Flexibility is one challenge
5.1.2. Conformance vs interoperability
5.2. Three kinds of testing
5.3. Four levels of interoperability
5.3.1. Current testing and certification system earns a 'C'
5.3.2. SGIP has big plans for testing and certification
5.3.2.1. Six follow framework
5.3.2.2. ITCAs are responsible
5.3.2.3. Becoming an ITCA
5.4. Future of testing and certification not yet defined
5.4.1. Cost a major obstacle
5.4.2. Cheaper to fix early

6. Examination of 2 battles suggests avenue to peace
6.1. SGIP as United Nations of smart grid standards
6.1.1. G.hn vs HomePlug
6.1.2. Behind the lines: HomePlug
6.1.3. Behind the lines: G.hn
6.1.4. At the front
6.2. Civil War and SEP
6.2.1. Changing sides
6.2.2. Progress 'unnecessarily delayed'
6.2.3. How do you fix this?
6.2.4. Reliability at issue
6.2.5. Wars can be resolved in weeks

7. Outside US, utilities sometimes in control
7.1. World has many different playing fields
7.1.1. Are utilities in control?
7.1.2. Consensus standards coming
7.1.3. 'Nobody is waiting'
7.1.4. Politics in the way?

8. Afterword: Standards matter
8.1. More utilities needed at table
8.2. Consumers Energy demands CIM
8.3. Standards alone insufficient
8.4. Trilliant focuses on price
8.5. Third leg addressed
8.6. What is your next move?

9. APPENDIX: Who's Who

10. Glossary

11. Index

12. About the Author

13. About Smart Grid Today