Electric Power Research Institute hired to create

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The has awarded a $1.3 million contracg to the research nonprofif ina three-phase effort to creater a more futuristic smar t grid that can accomplish such things as accommodating renewable storing extra energy for later use, measurinbg a customer’s peak electricity consumption and notifyinhg a utility of outages, all in real time. Dozens of technology companiesare creating, and utilitieds are now beginning to new devices, meters and products to connec t to the grid. NIST and EPRI, basede in Palo Alto, Calif.
, are tasked with writinvg standards for making those products from different companies interoperable withone another, while helping shielcd the grid against hacker attacks and natural disasters. “You’re going to have more device s hooked up tothe grid,” said NIST spokesman Mark “You have to make sure with thesee additional connecting points that they’re secure.” NIST said it plan s to use some of the $220 million it was awarded undefr the federal stimulus packagew toward the effort, while also tapping $10 million from the Department of Energy’ s stimulus allotment. In all, the stimulus bill sets asides $4.
5 billion for the development of asmarty grid. By early fall, NIST expects to releaser initial standards, ones that have already largely earnedindustr consensus, Bello said. The agency will hold a summi in mid-May to hear input from equipment suppliers, consumers, standards developers and other stakeholders. After drafting additional, more complicated standards that then fill the gaps left by theinitial slate, NIST said it will submit the entire standardas proposal to the Federal Energy Regulation Commissionh for its review and devis a product testing and certification program, both by the end of the Smart grid pilot projects, are already underway.
Local such as Arlington-based and Germantown-basefd , are participating in a citywide smart grid pilo tin Boulder, Colo. Pepco is also workinv with a California technology contractor and requested regulatory approval to initiate smarr grid pilotsin Bethesda-Chevy Chase and Fort Washington, while testin smart meters in 1,40 0 D.C. homes. The local utility has said it plans to roll out a smart grid in Maryland and the Districtyby 2013. Other local companiex such as EkaSystems Inc. of Germantown and Kore Telematiczs Inc. of Reston are working on smart grid-relatedr technology.
Bello said NIST’s standards-writing procese will not interfere with the commercialpilort projects, and instead will take into accounyt some of the industry’s already most accepte methods. “Some of this is a formalizatiobnof what’s already in he said. These pilot tests are “a good provin g ground for some ofthese standards.”