The Vermont state legislature has voted to eliminate smart meter opt out fees, forcing state utilities to provide customers an opt out option for free. As part of its plan to roll out about 160,000 smart meters to customers in its territory, Central Vermont Public Service had proposed to charge customers who chose to opt out of having smart meter a $10 fee. The recently-approved legislation allows for customers to "choose not to have a wireless smart meter installed, at no additional monthly or other charge." Customers can ask for the removal of a previously installed wireless smart meter for any reason and must not be charged for the removal. Additionally, the legislation requires utilities to provide prior written notice to customers indicating that the smart meter will use radio or other wireless means for two-way communication between the meter and the company, and informing customers of their rights under the new law. Furthermore, the bill also puts a requirement for studies related to smart meters to be submitted to lawmakers. To that end, the Vermont Department of Public Service is to prepare a report on the cost-savings associated with smart meters, while also addressing any issues of security breaches because of the wireless smart meters, that is due to the legislature by January 1, 2014.

 The IEEE standards association (IEEE-SA) has voted to approve the publication of the “4g” amendment to the 802.15 standard. The amended standard is commonly referred to as Smart Utility Networks (SUN) and is a physical layer (PHY) amendment to the existing low power, personal area network (LoPAN) 802.15 standard. The amendment is intended to provide a global standard that facilitates very large scale process control applications such as the utility smart-grid network capable of supporting large, geographically diverse networks with minimal infrastructure, with potentially millions of fixed endpoints, according to the IEEE web site. Read more »

The Administration announced today that nine major utilities and electricity suppliers will commit to providing more than 15 million households access to data about their own energy use with a simple click of an online “Green Button.” These utilities have agreed to base their Green Buttons on a common technical standard developed in collaboration with a public-private partnership supported by the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
"The Green Button Initiative will help consumers monitor and manage their energy consumption. We believe that engaging consumers as a crucial stakeholder in the process will help us achieve national energy policy goals, deliver important societal benefits and realize important advancements in the utility value chain," said Connie Durcsak, UTC President and CEO, in a press release supporting this project. Read more »

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP) opened its Spring Face-to-Face Meeting in Charlotte on March 20, 2012. The opening plenary session featured Dr. George Arnold, the overseer of the NIST Smart Grid effort. Dr. Arnold told the audience that NIST will continue to participate in the SGIP, regardless of the ultimate structure of the organization, citing mandates in the EISA 2007 legislation. Dr. Arnold was referring to the requirement that the SGIP transition to a sustainable, self-sufficient organization by 2013. The SGIP had created a working group to address this issue and has received a report on a variety of options from EnerNex, the SGIP administrator. Concerns from the audience included one from a utility that suggested that if the SGIP was going to charge dues for membership, it should make the fact known as soon as possible. The utility representation stated that utilities are beginning to create budgets for 2013 in the summer and SGIP membership fees may not make the budget, unless identified early. Dr. Arnold said he understood the concern and would make plans known as soon as possible.
A report from Don Sheflin, chair of the Smart Grid Federal Advisory Committee summarized the group’s report to NIST on the workings of the SGIP. Top recommendations included consolidate the disjointed treatment of cybersecurity issues related to the smart grid. Also cited was the need to strengthen state regulatory support for smart grid initiatives, implying that when states treat smart grid efforts in a wide variety of ways, it creates regulatory uncertainty that delays smart grid implementation. Other recommendations included the need for a consolidated communications plan for smart grid education and outreach. UTC will be blogging additional topics from this meeting over the next few days.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has added five new standards to the IEEE portfolio of more than 100 active standards or standards in development relevant to the smart grid.

The IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) Standards Board approved IEEE C37.118.1-Standard for Synchrophasor Measurements for Power Systems, IEEE C37.118.2-Standard for Synchrophasor Data Transfer for Power Systems, IEEE C37.238-Standard Profile for Use of IEEE Std. 1588 Precision Time Protocol in Power System Applications, IEEE C37.232-Standard for Common Format for Naming Time Sequence Data Files (COMNAME) and IEEE 1020-Guide for Control of Small (100 kVA to 5 MVA) Hydroelectric Power Plants.

The standards were developed outside the NIST Smart Grid Interoperability effort and must be approved through the NISR process before being added to the NIST Catalog of Smart Grid Interoperability Standard. Additionally, IEEE-SA recently modified the scope and purpose of an existing smart grid related standards- development project --IEEE P1409 -- Draft Guide for the Application of Power Electronics for Power Quality Improvement on Distribution Systems Rated 1 kV Through 38 kV. For more information, see related IEEE press release.

The NIST Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP)has released version two of its Interoperability Process Reference Manual, with a guide to the process by which test laboratories and certifying organizations are accredited for evaluation of Smart Grid products. Utilities that are interested in smart grid interoperability testing, and the procedures recommended by NIST, should download the document as a reference.

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The Michigan Public Service Commission has launched an investigation into Michigan utility companies that install smart meters after concerns were raised by electric customers and municipalities over the practice. The Commission noted that "at least nine local communities across Michigan" have called for such an action by the state agency.
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In an email to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Smart Grid Cybersecurity Working Group (CSWG), it was announced that the CSWG Testing and Certification subgroup has completed the draft SGIP document, “Guide for Assessing the High-Level Security Requirements in NISTIR 7628, Guidelines for Smart Grid Cyber Security.” The document provides a foundation to facilitate a security assessment based on the NISTIR 7628 high-level security requirements. The agency released the smart grid security guidelines in the NISTIR 7628 document in 2010, but some utilities have struggled with using the document in order to create real world security policies. This guide is written to provide a foundation to facilitate a security assessment based on the NISTIR 7628 high-level security requirements implemented within an effective risk management program. Read more »

The Utilities Telecom Council (UTC) hosted 25 delegates from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) seeking information on the development and application of Smart Grid technologies. The Chinese delegates hold positions within the telecommunications administration at central, provincial and municipal levels of Chinese industry. Read more »

U.S. utilities are structuring intelligence into their networks with the aim to make power distribution more efficient; however these efforts are getting caught in the myriad of regulations that leave their security efforts incomplete, inadequate and uncoordinated. According to a new report released by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a single federal agency should be in charge of the nation’s critical infrastructure security, instead of being spread across a group of organizations, as it currently is. The findings also stated that this greater reliance on data communications in the grid increases the importance of standardization for interoperability and of cybersecurity and raises serious issues of privacy. Additionally, the report also discussed the potential risk factors to the grid from the impact of federal regulations, rising prices for fossil fuels and competition from sources of renewable energy. It largely stated that with the right policy measures, the grid would be able to handle the influx of electric vehicles as well as renewable generation sources including wind and solar. Read more »