A U.S. advisory committee that provided input on standards for smart grid devices and systems was terminated as part of the Trump administration's efforts to reduce the number of federal advisory committees.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST, disbanded its Smart Grid Advisory Committee on Sept. 30. The decision stemmed from a June 14 executive order from President Donald Trump that directed federal agencies to eliminate at least one-third of their advisory committees by the end of September.
"The Department of Commerce has conducted a comprehensive review of its advisory committees pursuant to the executive order ... in an effort to use government resources more efficiently," said a spokesperson for the Commerce Department, of which NIST is a part. "As part of the review, Commerce recommended to the Office of Management and Budget that the Smart Grid Advisory Committee would cease operations."
The committee, which first convened in September 2010, offered NIST input on smart grid standards, priorities and gaps, as well as the overall direction of smart grid implementation, according to the panel's website. The committee included members of the power industry, technology companies, industry associations, academics, and cybersecurity professionals.
The group helped inform NIST's Smart Grid Program, which coordinates the development of a framework and interoperability standards for a modern grid that is increasingly incorporating smart meters, distributed generation, energy storage, renewables and other emerging technologies that are challenging the traditional utility model.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has supported NIST's work to develop interoperability standards, while the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners has encouraged state regulators to use NIST's work on the standards, guidelines for protecting consumer privacy and a cybersecurity framework, according to the advisory committee's most recent report in June.
The program has so far published three editions of the NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards, with a fourth one scheduled to come out in early 2020.
"It is clear that coordination of a framework of interoperability standards will remain essential in addressing these ongoing changes in the power sector and maintaining U.S. leadership in power systems and technologies," the now-dissolved committee's chair and president Paul Centolella said in the June report.
Although the NIST Smart Grid Program remains in place, the advisory committee facilitated public input on the framework and standards. With the committee terminated, how the program will gather that information going forward is unclear, Centolella said in an interview. He declined to comment on whether the loss of the committee will affect the smart grid program but said that the panel helped identify challenges and opportunities for effectively integrating smart grid devices and determining how new technologies interact with the bulk power system.
In addition to Centolella, who is a former commissioner with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, the committee included representatives from Duke Energy Corp., Sunrun Inc., GE Grid Solutions LLC, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, several universities, and the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
The independent research organization the Electric Power Research Institute, or EPRI, was part of the governing board for NIST's smart grid efforts when the agency developed its original smart grid framework and roadmap. The work "was a landmark effort for the industry and has been used by EPRI and utilities around the world to help provide direction for the ongoing development of interoperability standards," said Mark McGranaghan, EPRI's vice president of grid integration. But McGranaghan said he was "less involved" with the specifics of the advisory committee.
"I don't have an opinion on eliminating the Smart Grid Federal Advisory Committee but I do believe there are excellent opportunities for grid modernization coordination across the industry regardless of this development," McGranaghan said.
