AHAM Smart Grid Architecture Has Wide Industry Support, CEA Tells DOE

A smart grid communications architecture that features “a hub or a gateway that can communicate using common protocols and serve as the adapter or bridge to other devices” on the home area network has gotten broad industry “consensus,” the CEA told the Department of Energy. For smart grid implementation, the DOE must “evaluate this model,” that the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) had said in a report is preferred by the home appliance makers, the CEA said.

This architectural model allows a “more robust, comprehensive” home networking system approach that’s compatible with consumer electronics devices, the group said. Besides also supporting diverse home area network communications protocols, the model provides a single point of interface with utilities’ wide area networks, the CEA said. The DOE had sought comments on policy and logistical challenges to smart grid implementation.

CEA members like Home Automation and General Electric are already marketing a “wide-ranging array” of home energy management technologies and services, the CEA said. Dynamic pricing programs for electricity along with consumer interest in managing energy use will “further motivate the consumer electronics industry to develop energy management and demand response products and services,” it said. State utility commissions must require consumer education as part of smart grid deployments, the group said. “Successful smart grid implementations will depend upon successful campaigns to educate consumers on the benefits of smart grid technologies."

The GridWise Alliance sought increased funding for the National Institute of Standards and Technology as it moves the smart grid standards process to “international compliance and testing phases.” It wanted the DOE to start a program to aid businesses in overcoming barriers to smart grid participation and make use of the Commerce Department’s Manufacturing Efficiency Program to help manufacturers become more energy efficient. “This program is well-positioned to help in efforts to deploy smart grid technologies to enable distributed energy and demand response as well as energy efficiency,” the alliance said.

Being primarily a “distribution utility issue,” smart grid deployment decisions should be made on the state or local level, the American Public Power Association said. The DOE should help utilities develop smart grid education campaigns by compiling “best practices and lessons learned” from projects funded by federal grants, it said. Smart grid technology rollouts should “only occur at the rate at which they can provide tangible benefits,” APPA said. “Customers will adopt new technology when they believe it will benefit them."

The “traditional” model for consumer privacy, based on “notice and choice,” is inadequate for smart grid deployments, the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said in joint comments. The DOE should adopt, and encourage states to embrace, the “fair information practice” principles that the CDT and EFF have developed, the groups said. They said the principles include “transparency, individual participation, data minimization, use limitation, data security and accountability and audit.”