GE calls for accelerated smart grid standards

GE announced that Bob Gilligan, vice president of transmission and distribution for GE Energy, will be one of the select few industry executives participating in the Smart Grid Leadership Meeting in Washington, D.C., led by U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.

Gilligan will discuss how GE is leveraging its global experience in the energy industry to help lead the development of smart grid standards in the United States.

“Standardizing technology is vital to ensure cyber-security, interoperability, reliability and safety for consumers and utilities as the nation begins implementation of a smarter electrical infrastructure,” said Gilligan. “Unambiguous standards will help speed up innovation as engineers follow a clear direction for product development and technology advances.”

Gilligan continued, “No company, government body or organization alone can bring about this standardization. We, therefore, must join together to apply our knowledge and combined experience in achieving this objective — one of the most important initiatives in the industry.”

Sixty executives from utilities, technology providers, trade associations and standards development organizations will attend and share their visions for turning the challenge of standards development into a roadmap for successful smart grid implementation.

As with the Internet, technology and performance standards are vital to a successful smarter grid, which will enable increased energy efficiency, provide new jobs, allow for easier integration of renewable power sources and help consumers and businesses better manage energy costs.

“A smart electricity grid will revolutionize the way we use energy, but we need standards in place to ensure that all this new technology is compatible and operating at the highest cyber-security standards to protect the smart grid from hackers and natural disasters,” Locke said during an April 16 press conference.

The Leadership Meeting is one of many standards initiatives GE is actively participating in. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has chosen GE to work alongside the Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. to develop an interim roadmap for determining smart grid architecture and key standards for the smart grid, with a focus on cyber-security.

The Leadership Conference is a precursor to the NIST Interim Smart Grid Standards Interoperability Roadmap Summit on May 19-20. The summit will focus on identifying all standards needed for the smart grid, standards priorities, responsibilities and a timeline. GEÂ’s world-renowned subject matter experts will be actively leading and/or participating in all of these standards projects.

GE had nine industry experts participate in the first summit held April 28-29, covering each of the seven parallel tracks, with objectives around architecture, evaluating existing standards, consensus on standards to be endorsed now and identification of issues to be addressed in the future.