[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 90 (Tuesday, May 11, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26206-26208]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-11129]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Implementing the National Broadband Plan by Studying the
Communications Requirements of Electric Utilities To Inform Federal
Smart Grid Policy
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Request for information (RFI).
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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking comments and
information from interested parties to assist DOE in understanding the
communications requirements of utilities, including, but not limited
to, the requirements of the Smart Grid. This RFI also seeks to collect
information about electricity infrastructure's current and projected
communications requirements, as well as the types of networks and
communications services that may be used for grid modernization.
Specifically, DOE seeks information on what types of communications
capabilities that the utilities think that they will need and what type
of communications capabilities that the communications carriers think
that they can provide.
DATES: Comments must be postmarked by no later than July 12, 2010.
Reply comments must be postmarked by no later than July 26, 2010.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by ``NBP RFI:
Communications Requirements,'' by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: [email protected]. Include ``NBP RFI: Communications
Requirements'' in the subject line of the message.
Mail: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the General Counsel,
1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 6A245, Washington, DC 20585.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maureen C. McLaughlin, Senior Legal
Advisor to the General Counsel (202) 586-5281; [email protected].
For Media Inquiries you may contact Jen Stutsman at 202-586-4940.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
In early 2009, Congress directed the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) to create the recently released
[[Page 26207]]
National Broadband Plan (NBP).\1\ As Congress instructed, the NBP makes
recommendations to various government entities, including Executive
Branch agencies like DOE. In particular, the NBP recommended that DOE,
in collaboration with the FCC, should conduct a thorough study of the
communications requirements of electric utilities, including, but not
limited to, the requirements of the Smart Grid.\2\ As the National
Broadband Plan correctly notes, understanding the evolving
communications requirements of electric utilities and other energy
infrastructure entities will help in developing informed Smart Grid
policies for the nation. Therefore, DOE seeks to collect information
about current and projected communications requirements in sustaining
and modernizing the grid, as well as the types of networks and
communications services that may be used. Specifically, DOE seeks
information on what types of communications capabilities that the
utilities think that they will need and what type of communications
capabilities that the communications carriers think that they can
provide.
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\1\ Fed. Commc'n Comm'n, The National Broadband Plan: Connecting
America, http://www.broadband.gov (last visited Apr. 26, 2010).
\2\ Id. at Recommendation 12.6.
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A Smart Grid uses information and communications technologies to
improve the reliability, availability, and efficiency of the electric
system. In Smart Grid projects today, these technologies are being
applied to electric grid applications, involving devices at the
consumer level through the transmission level, to make our electric
system more responsive and more flexible.
The potential promises \3\ of the Smart Grid include, improved
reliability and power quality, reduction in peak demand, reduction in
transmission congestion costs, the potential for increased energy
efficiency, environmental benefits gained by increased asset
utilization, increased security, ability to accommodate more renewable
energy and increased durability and ease of repair in response to
attacks or natural disasters.
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\3\ A smart meter is a good example of an enabling Smart Grid
technology that can empower both utilities and consumers to extract
value from two-way communications and real-time access to usage
data. Smart meters play an important role in the success of the
Smart Grid because they can generate an array of useful data
including historical energy consumption data, real-time data, convey
pricing and control information, and enable a variety of demand
response approaches to reduce peak load.
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But in order to provide these, and other, benefits that the Smart
Grid can offer, utilities and other participants in the nation's
electricity infrastructure need to employ adequate communications
technologies that serve their needs from both a critical infrastructure
and business standpoint. This RFI thus focuses on enhancing DOE's
understanding of both what these needs are and how they might best be
met.
This RFI seeks to create a dialogue that will help DOE study the
communications requirements of electric utilities in order to better
inform Federal Smart Grid policy.
The Smart Grid will have many new applications for consumers,
retailers, utilities, and others, and it will be composed of several
vast, developing, and interrelated systems. The communications
requirements of these systems will be a critical component of both the
Smart Grid and the other technologies that will evolve and change how
electricity is produced, consumed, conserved and distributed. Moreover,
just as there is no ``one-size-fits-all'' utility solution, illustrated
by investor-owned, municipally-owned, and rural electric cooperatives--
we also cannot expect any ``one-size-fits-all'' communications solution
to accommodate all reasonable Smart Grid implementations and
applications.
One of the key technology areas of the Smart Grid is integrated
two-way communications, which make the Smart Grid a dynamic,
interactive, real-time infrastructure. An open architecture creates a
plug-and-play environment that securely networks grid components and
operators, enabling them to talk, listen and interact.\4\
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\4\ Dep't of Energy, What the Smart Grid Means to You and the
People You Serve (Aug. 31, 2009), available at http://www.oe.energy.gov/DocumentsandMedia/Utilities.pdf.
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Request for information: DOE seeks information about current and
projected communications needs for the Smart Grid from electric
utilities, regional transmission operators and other interested
parties, as well as the types of networks and communications services
they use.
DOE recognizes that many communications and networking technologies
can be used in Smart Grid applications, including, but not limited to:
fiber optic; microwave; copper lines; satellite; broadband wireless;
unlicensed wireless mesh; licensed point-to-point and point-to-
multipoint, low latency wireless; Power Line Carrier and Broadband over
Power Line; Internet; and, wired broadband. These and other networking
technologies can be used by a variety of Smart Grid applications,
including, but not limited to: Home Area Networks (HAN); Phasor
Measurements and wide area situational awareness; Substation SCADA;
Distributed Generation Monitoring and Control; Protective Relaying;
Demand Response and Pricing; and Plug-in Electric Vehicles.
DOE also recognizes that while it may be possible to estimate the
current required communications needs of the entities now deploying the
Smart Grid, it may be unrealistic to precisely quantify their future
communications needs, as the Smart Grid is not fully developed and its
future requirements or applications may dramatically increase or
change. Nevertheless, even unavoidable uncertainty should not deter
either DOE, utilities or other interested parties from assessing both
current communications needs and the best-available estimates of
whether or how they may evolve.
For example, certain Smart Grid and demand response applications
have been deployed by utilities for many years.\5\ These applications
use a variety of communications technologies, and these technologies
may vary from implementation to implementation. These technologies have
traditionally involved private networks. Utilities have cited higher
rates of survivability following a natural disaster,\6\ the ability to
maintain service throughout a utility's service territory,\7\ the lack
of priority of services when outages occur,\8\ and the cost of service
\9\ as reasons why commercial services cannot adequately replace
private networks.
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\5\ Fed. Energy Regulatory Comm'n, Assessment of Demand Response
and Advanced Metering, 8, 65 (Dec. 2008), available at http://www.ferc.gov/legal/staff-reports/12-08-demand-response.pdf.
\6\ United Telecomm. Council, Hurricanes of 2005: Performance of
Gulf Coast Critical Infrastructure Communications Networks, 2, 24
(Nov. 2006).
\7\ S. Co. Serv. Inc., Comments--National Broadband Plan Public
Notice #2, GN Docket No. 09-47, 09-51, and 09-137, 15, 21 (Oct. 2
2009).
\8\ Util. Telecomm. Council, Comments--National Broadband Plan
Public Notice #2, GN Docket No. 09-47, 09-51, and 09-137, 11, 24
(Oct. 2 2009).
\9\ Sempra Energy Util., Comments regarding the Implementation
of Smart Grid Technology, GN Docket No. 09-47, 09-51, and 09-137,
13, 22 (Oct. 2 2009).
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While it appears from comments filed with the FCC that many
commenting utilities want to use private, non-commercial networking
options, some utilities have also commented that dedicated utility
spectrum may be beneficial, but perhaps not essential to continue
current Smart Grid deployments like backhaul for meters in an AMI
system.\10\ One commenter
[[Page 26208]]
expressed the need for greater industry collaboration to build a better
case for dedicated spectrum.\11\
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\10\ Util. Telecomm. Council, Comments in response to the
National Broadband Plan Public Notice 2, GN Docket No. 09-
47, 09-51, and 09-137, 3, 24 (Oct. 2 2009); Nat'l Rural Elec. Coop.
Ass'n, Comments in response to the National Broadband Plan Public
Notice 2, GN Docket No. 09-47, 09-51, and 09-137, 12, 14
(Oct. 2 2009).
\11\ S. Co. Serv., Comments in response to the National
Broadband Plan Public Notice 2, GN Docket No. 09-47, 09-51,
and 09-137, 15, 21 (Oct. 2 2009).
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Utilities have also expressed a need for dedicated spectrum for
fast power restoration in an emergency or natural disaster, reliable
service, and for protection from a cyber attack on the electric
grid.\12\ DOE thus seeks to better understand this need for dedicated
spectrum; what compels the need for additional spectrum in addition to
the increased amount of data that utilities are expected to handle as
the deployment of Smart Grid applications multiplies.
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\12\ Nat'l Ass'n of Regulatory Util. Comm'rs, Comments in
response to the National Broadband Plan Public Notice 2, GN
Docket No. 09-47, 09-51, and 09-137, 3, 11 (Oct. 2 2009).
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List of Questions
The following list of questions represents a preliminary attempt to
identify and respond to the issues that have been raised in the
National Broadband Plan regarding the Smart Grid and DOE, as outlined
in the summary of this Inquiry. This list of questions does not
represent a determination of the final list of topics that should be
addressed to best carry out the recommendations of the Plan. Rather,
this list is intended only to assist in the formulation of comments--
not to restrict the issues that might be addressed in the comments.
In addressing these questions or others, commenters must also
recognize that this RFI is intended to assist and inform DOE's efforts
to address the aspects of these questions that most directly implicate
the duties and responsibilities assigned by law to DOE and the
Secretary of Energy. This qualification is important because all
interstate information technologies, including the Smart Grid,
inevitably implicate the jurisdiction and expertise of the States and
many other federal agencies--a few of the most obvious examples include
federal law-enforcement agencies, the Department of Homeland Security,
and the FCC. DOE fully intends to respect the jurisdiction and
expertise of these and other governmental entities. Consequently,
comments directed to matters deemed more relevant to the jurisdiction
and expertise of other governmental entities will provide little
assistance relevant to this RFI.
(1) What are the current and future communications needs of
utilities, including for the deployment of new Smart Grid applications,
and how are these needs being met?
(2) What are the basic requirements, such as security, bandwidth,
reliability, coverage, latency, and backup, for smart grid
communications and electric utility communications systems in general--
today and tomorrow? How do these requirements impact the utilities'
communication needs?
(3) What are other additional considerations (e.g. terrain,
foliage, customer density and size of service territory)?
(4) What are the use cases for various smart grid applications and
other communications needs?
(5) What are the technology options for smart grid and other
utility communications?
(6) What are the recommendations for meeting current and future
utility requirements, based on each use case, the technology options
that are available, and other considerations?
(7) To what extent can existing commercial networks satisfy the
utilities' communications needs?
(8) What, if any, improvements to the commercial networks can be
made to satisfy the utilities' communications needs?
(9) As the Smart Grid grows and expands, how do the electric
utilities foresee their communications requirements as growing and
adapting along with the expansion of Smart Grid applications?
Issued in Washington, DC, on May 5, 2010.
Scott Blake Harris,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2010-11129 Filed 5-10-10; 8:45 am]
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