View all text of Subchapter IX [§ 17381 - § 17392]
§ 17385. Smart grid interoperability framework
(a) Interoperability frameworkThe Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall have primary responsibility to coordinate the development of a framework that includes protocols and model standards for information management to achieve interoperability of smart grid devices and systems. Such protocols and standards shall further align policy, business, and technology approaches in a manner that would enable all electric resources, including demand-side resources, to contribute to an efficient, reliable electricity network. In developing such protocols and standards—
(1) the Director shall seek input and cooperation from the Commission, OEDER and its Smart Grid Task Force, the Smart Grid Advisory Committee, other relevant Federal and State agencies; and
(2) the Director shall also solicit input and cooperation from private entities interested in such protocols and standards, including but not limited to the Gridwise Architecture Council, the International Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the National Electric Reliability Organization recognized by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and National Electrical Manufacturer’s Association.
(b) Scope of frameworkThe framework developed under subsection (a) shall be flexible, uniform and technology neutral, including but not limited to technologies for managing smart grid information, and designed—
(1) to accommodate traditional, centralized generation and transmission resources and consumer distributed resources, including distributed generation, renewable generation, energy storage, energy efficiency, and demand response and enabling devices and systems;
(2) to be flexible to incorporate—
(A) regional and organizational differences; and
(B) technological innovations;
(3) to consider the use of voluntary uniform standards for certain classes of mass-produced electric appliances and equipment for homes and businesses that enable customers, at their election and consistent with applicable State and Federal laws, and are manufactured with the ability to respond to electric grid emergencies and demand response signals by curtailing all, or a portion of, the electrical power consumed by the appliances or equipment in response to an emergency or demand response signal, including through—
(A) load reduction to reduce total electrical demand;
(B) adjustment of load to provide grid ancillary services; and
(C) in the event of a reliability crisis that threatens an outage, short-term load shedding to help preserve the stability of the grid; and
(4) such voluntary standards should incorporate appropriate manufacturer lead time.1
1 So in original. Does not fit with subsec. (b) introductory provisions.
(c) Timing of framework development
(d) Standards for interoperability in Federal jurisdiction
(e) Authorization
(Pub. L. 110–140, title XIII, § 1305, Dec. 19, 2007, 121 Stat. 1787.)