With the big Smart-Grid summit underway, the DOE and DOC have has announced three developments related to its big Smart Grid push.
First, DOE announced that it was increasing the maximum size of large-scale grid technology grants, given out under its Smart Grid Investment Program, to $200 million. Previously, the agency had said that the grants would be in the $500,000 to $20 million range. In addition, DOE is increasing grants under its Smart Grid Demonstration Projects from $40 million to $100 million. Nearly $3.4 billion has been earmarked for Smart Grid projects. A release from the DOE said the changes were made “based on feedback from the public and Smart Grid stakeholders,” although I suspect it was mainly the latter. When I asked the DOE to elaborate on why the max was raised, an agency spokesperson told me in an email that, “With the increased maximum, the Department of Energy will be able to support larger-scale programs whose costs would have exceeded the previous limits,” but went on to vow that grants would be provided “for both small and large projects.”
The second announcement has to do with the release of $10 million in funding for NIST. That some significant funding was coming was a foregone conclusion given NIST’s assignment to oversee Smart Grid standards development.
The final announcement was the issuance of an interim set of 16 Grid standards (see below).
The announcements were made following a White House meeting with major utility executives and other major stakeholders, but ahead of a two-day meeting in Washington, DC, Tuesday and Wednesday that is being billed as “public standards workshop.” DOE and DOC officials say they hope these developments accelerate the adoption of standards. A partial list of participants at the meeting includes ABB, American Electric Power, Duke Energy, Google, Motorola, Gridpoint, Siemens, Thomas and Betts, IEEE, several state PUCOs and a variety of industry and energy alliances.
DOE Secretary Steven Chu seemed upbeat, saying, “I’m pleased that industry leaders stepped forward today and are working with us to get consensus.”
Initial Smart Grid Interoperability Standards Framework, Release 1.0
| Standard | Application |
| AMI-SEC System Security Requirements | Advanced metering infrastructure and Smart Grid end-to-end security |
| ANSI C12.19/MC1219 | Revenue metering information model |
| BACnet ANSI ASHRAE 135-2008/ISO 16484-5 | Building automation |
| DNP3 | Substation and feeder device automation |
| IEC 60870-6/TASE.2 | Intercontrol center communications |
| IEC 61850 | Substation automation and protection |
| IEC 61968/61970 | Application level energy management system interfaces |
| IEC 62351 Parts 1-8 | Information security for power system control operations |
| IEEE C37.118 | Phasor measurement unit communications |
| IEEE 1547 | Physical and electrical interconnections between utility and distributed generation |
| IEEE 1686-2007 | Security for intelligent electronic devices |
| NERC CIP 002-009 | Cyber security standards for the bulk power system |
| NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-53, NIST SP 800-82 | Cyber security standards and guidelines for federal information systems, including those for the bulk power system |
| Open Automated Demand Response | Price responsive and direct load control |
| Open Home Area Network | Home Area Network device communication, measurement and control |
| ZigBee/HomePlug Smart Energy Profile | Home Area Network Device Communications and Information Model |