By CommsDay International

There’s good news on the smart grid standards front as the industry body that defines much of the standards for data networking is now getting involved. The IEEE, better known for setting standards such as Ethernet and Wi-Fi, has announced an initiative know as IEEE 2030, dubbed as a guide for smart grid interoperability of energy technology and information technology operation with electric power systems and end-use application sand loads.

In a nutshell, the initiative will aim to set industry standards for connecting the power grid to the communications infrastructure. Or in official words, “provide a knowledge base for understanding and defining smart grid interoperability of the electric power system with end use applications and loads,” involving “the integration of energy technology and information and communications technologies.”

Intel, a backer of Bluetooth and WiMAX and an extensive vendor of Wi-Fi, is getting involved by hosting the first meeting of the IEEE 2030 initiative at its headquarters in Santa Clara, California on 3-5 June, 2009. Check out my earlier comment on Grid Net’s WiMAX smart grid bet here.

“With its rich heritage and vast membership from a broad range of technology sectors, IEEE is uniquely positioned to enable power engineering, communications and information technology to coalesce. This landmark initiative, which spans multiple diverse industries, will tap into the numerous ubiquitously deployed IEEE standards developed by a variety of expert groups,” said Chuck Adams, president, IEEE Standards Association. “IEEE P2030 will define key elements of the modernized grid, and it will accelerate progress in making the smart grid a reality.”

IEEE P2030 is sponsored by the IEEE Standards Coordinating Committee 21 (SCC21) and chaired by Dick DeBlasio, who is program manager at the National Renewable Energy Lab facility of the U.S. Department of Energy, and serves as the IEEE smart grid liaison to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). DeBlasio points out that “this P2030 standards project will support NIST’s role to coordinate the development of smart grid interoperability standards.”

The IEEE’s announcement follows a call by the Obama administration to accelerate the development of smart grids in the country, and the subsequent realisation by the industry that there’s a lack of industry standards in the area.

As late as March, federal government agencies were still looking at the best way forward to coordinate the development of smart grid standards. Among the issues identified by a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission action plan on smart grids are: cyber security; communications technologies between utilities, service providers and consumers; enhancing monitoring and capacity management capabilities inside the core power grid – what the commission terms ‘bulk power system operators’; and the integration of new platforms, such as renewable sources, storage, and new transport technologies, into the grid.

“Prioritizing the development of key standards will speed up the process of achieving an interoperable smart grid,” Commissioner Suedeen Kelly said at the time. “Also, our proposed policy will require the sharing of information associated with smart grid deployments with the Smart Grid Clearinghouse being developed by the Department of Energy. This will help to demonstrate the real benefits that investing in a smart grid can bring to the public.”

This article was first published in CommsDay International