EPRI hired to develop smart grid standards  

The Washington Business Journal reports that EPRI has been awarded some funding to develop smart grid standards - Electric Power Research Institute hired to create ‘smart grid’.

By the end of this year, a federal agency plans to introduce national standards for coordinating and securing a newer, smarter electrical grid.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has awarded a $1.3 million contract to the research nonprofit Electric Power Research Institute in a three-phase effort to create a more futuristic smart grid that can accomplish such things as accommodating

Dozens of technology companies are creating, and utilities are now beginning to pilot, new devices, meters and products to connect to the grid. NIST and EPRI, based in Palo Alto, Calif., are tasked with writing standards for making those products from different companies interoperable with one another, while helping shield the grid against hacker attacks and natural disasters.

“You’re going to have more devices hooked up to the grid,” said NIST spokesman Mark Bello. “You have to make sure with these additional connecting points that they’re secure.”

NIST said it plans to use some of the $220 million it was awarded under the federal stimulus package toward the effort, while also tapping $10 million from the Department of Energy’s stimulus allotment. In all, the stimulus bill sets aside $4.5 billion for the development of a smart grid.