If you divide how important some energy technology is to the future of mainstreamers by how much they know about it–call it the Invisibility Index–you’d be hard-pressed to come up with something that scores higher than changes to the electricity grid. Luckily, there are plenty of people thinking and talking about it, and even better, laying the groundwork for the US to change from what it is (picture Fred Sanford’s living room festooned with high-voltage cables) to what we need it to be (picture most of the tech in The Jetsons). That observation brings me to: Green Car Congress: NIST Issues First Release of Framework for Smart Grid Interoperability:
The US Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issued an initial list of standards, a preliminary cyber security strategy, and other elements of a framework to support transforming the nation’s aging electric power system into an interoperable Smart Grid.
A draft of the report was issued on 24 Sept 2009, for public review and comments. (Earlier post.) More than 80 individuals and organizations submitted comments. A companion draft document, NISTIR 7628, Smart Grid Cyber Security Strategy and Requirements, also underwent public review.
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Plug-in vehicles. Included in the action plan is defining data standards to enable the charging of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). The specifications will cover charging at home or away from home using a special rate schedule, discharging of PEV energy storage for demand response purposes, and administration and monitoring. The standards will allow the charging flexibility necessary for PEVs to meet customer needs. They also will encourage the adoption of electric vehicles for general-purpose transportation.
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SGIP. In November 2009, NIST launched a Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP) to assist NIST in carrying out its EISA-assigned responsibility, including working with regulatory bodies on evaluating and implementing standards in this and subsequent releases of the NIST interoperability framework.
You can see the press release here, or grab the report here [145 page, 3.6MB PDF].
As part of my ongoing attempt to make sure people who read this site know which sources I think are must-reads, let me add Green Car Congress, source of the above article, to the list. Edited by Mike Millikin, GCC has been a terrific resource for news about sustainable mobility for years.
If you have any must-read sites, please mention them in a comment. I’ll check them out, and if I agree, I’ll add them to my “to be promoted” list.
