FERC Terminates Consideration Of Smart Grid Interoperability Standards

On July 19, 2011, following a lengthy consideration of the smart grid interoperability standards proposed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), FERC terminated its consideration of the five "families" of proposed interoperability standards, concluding that there was a lack of consensus regarding the standards.

NIST had initiated the development of smart grid interoperability standards following the Energy Independency and Security Act of 2007 (EISA). Under the EISA, if FERC is satisfied that there is "sufficient consensus" surrounding the standards developed and proposed by NIST, FERC must institute a rulemaking to adopt those standards and protocols "necessary to insure smart-grid functionality and interoperability." Last fall, NIST filed the results of its work on smart grid interoperability standards with FERC. FERC then held two technical conferences and asked for comments from industry stakeholders on the NIST proposal.