[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 26 (Tuesday, February 9, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6414-6416]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-2813]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY
Consumer Interface With the Smart Grid
AGENCY: Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Executive
Office of the President.
ACTION: Notice; request for public comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: With this notice, the Office of Science and Technology Policy
(OSTP) within the Executive Office of the President requests input from
the public regarding the consumer interface with the modernized
electric grid (``Smart Grid''), which is a vital component of the
President's comprehensive energy plan. In particular, we seek comments
on issues related to Smart Grid implementation options, including the
ways in which each option would support open innovation in home energy
services. This Request for Information (RFI) will be active from
February 10, 2010 to February 19, 2010. Respondents are invited to
respond online via the Smart Grid Forum at http://blog.ostp.gov/category/smart-grid, or may submit responses via electronic mail.
Electronic mail responses will be re-posted on the online forum.
Instructions are provided at http://blog.ostp.gov/category/smart-grid.
DATES: Comments must be received by 5 p.m. EST on February 19, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments by one of the following methods:
Smart Grid Forum: http://blog.ostp.gov/category/smart-grid.
Via E-mail: [email protected].
Mail: Office of Science and Technology Policy, Attn: Open
Government Recommendations, 725 17th Street, Washington, DC 20502.
Comments submitted in response to this notice may be made available
to the public online or by alternative means. For this reason, please
do not include in your comments information of a confidential nature,
such as sensitive personal information or proprietary information. If
you submit an e-mail comment, your e-mail address will be captured
automatically and included as part of the comment that is placed in the
public docket and made available on the Internet.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Kevin Hurst, Assistant Director
for Energy Technology, Office of Science and Technology Policy,
Executive Office of the President, Attn: Open Government, 725 17th
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20502, 202-456-7116.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Modernization of the Nation's electric grid is a vital component of
the President's comprehensive energy plan, which aims to reduce U.S.
dependence on foreign oil, create jobs, and help U.S. industry compete
successfully in global markets for clean energy technology.
[[Page 6415]]
Seventy-two percent of the Nation's electricity is consumed in
buildings, and nearly half of that is in homes. Optimizing building
energy consumption, especially during peak load periods, can improve
the reliability, security, and efficiency of the electric grid while
reducing energy costs to consumers. The ``Smart Grid''--a modernized
electricity transmission and distribution system involving the
increased use of digital information and controls technology--can help
to realize these benefits. Demand-side Smart Grid technologies include
``smart meters'' (which provide two-way, near-real-time data
communications between the utility and consumer premises), ``smart
appliances'' (which provide data communications and control options),
and ``smart interfaces'' that can integrate distributed energy
resources, demand response resources, or other energy loads and storage
devices such as plug-in electric and hybrid electric vehicles.
The Smart Grid will help to provide consumers with the information,
automation, and tools they need to control and optimize energy use.
This control and optimization requires interoperability and information
exchange between the grid and a wide variety of energy-using devices
and controllers, such as thermostats, water heaters, appliances,
consumer electronics, and energy management systems. The Department of
Energy (DOE) Smart Grid Investment Grant program, funded by the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is accelerating deployment of
smart meters and other components of an advanced electric grid.
In many instances, smart meters will have the capability to
communicate near-real-time measurements of electricity usage to the
utility and the consumer. In some implementations, data can be provided
to the consumer directly from the smart meter (or another monitoring
device) through an in-home display or energy management system via a
local communications interface. In other implementations, consumers or
their authorized agents can obtain their usage data via the internet
from an information system at the utility.
One of the goals of the Smart Grid is to enable innovation and
competition in new products and services that can help consumers
minimize both peak and overall energy usage and save money. To be most
effective, the Smart Grid will need to provide not only usage data but
also information such as electricity price data and demand response
signals to the consumer and energy-using devices in the home. This
information could be provided to the consumer's home devices either
through the smart meter's local communication interface or through a
separate gateway, provided either by the utility or a third-party
service provider. In order to clarify the various implementation
options, we seek comments on issues related to the demand-side Smart
Grid architecture, including potential costs, benefits, implementation
hurdles, and the ways in which each option would support open
innovation in home energy services.
A robust, secure, and flexible architecture based on open standards
is needed for information exchange between the home and the Smart Grid.
Section 1305 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007
advises that the Smart Grid interoperability framework be designed 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'' * * *. The diversity of communications technologies and
standards used by devices in the home presents a significant challenge
to achieving interoperability. A balance must be struck between
maximizing innovation and customer choice, while ensuring reliability
and a sufficiently standardized environment so that manufacturers can
produce cost-effective Smart Grid-enabled appliances that work anywhere
in the Nation. That balance must also include the need for cost-
effective Smart Grid infrastructure. In addition, ensuring cyber
security in the home-to-grid interface is a critical consideration.
The Smart Grid must provide benefits to a wide variety of
consumers. Some consumers who have many energy-using appliances and
devices may wish to have the grid interoperate with an existing home
area network and a sophisticated home energy management system. Other
consumers with simpler circumstances may not have the desire, skill, or
means to configure a home area network and may simply wish to plug in a
new, Smart-Grid-enabled appliance and have it automatically communicate
with the grid in order to realize energy-saving benefits. The diversity
of consumer needs must be considered in the design and deployment of
Smart Grid infrastructure and devices.
The Executive Branch is considering ways to ensure that the
consumer interface to the Smart Grid achieves the desired goal of
providing all consumers with the information they need to control and
optimize their energy use in a manner that ensures ease of use,
widespread adoption, and innovation. The National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST), pursuant to the Energy Independence
and Security Act of 2007, recently published the first release of an
interoperability framework for the Smart Grid (NIST Special Publication
1108, available at http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/smartgrid_interoperability_final.pdf), which includes discussion of
these issues and identifies the need for further work to provide
solutions.
II. Invitation To Comment
Input is welcome on issues related to the architecture of the
consumer interface with the Smart Grid as well as consumer ownership of
Smart Grid data. Questions that individuals may wish to address
include, but are not limited to the following. As part of your
submission, please indicate the question to which your answer responds.
1. Should the smart meter serve as the primary gateway for
residential energy usage data, price data, and demand response signals?
What are the most important factors in making this assessment, and how
might those factors change over time?
2. Should a data gateway other than the smart meter be used for all
or a subset of the data described in question 1?
3. If the smart meter, via the utility network, is the primary
gateway for the data described in question 1, will consumers and their
authorized third-party service providers be able to access the data
easily and in real time?
4. Who owns the home energy usage data? Should individual consumers
and their authorized third-party service providers have the right to
access energy usage data directly from the meter?
5. How are low-income consumers best served by home-to-grid
technology?
6. What alternative architectures involving real-time (or near-
real-time) electricity usage and price data are there that could
support open innovation in home energy services?
Please note that several important Smart Grid topics--including
Federal and State policy hurdles, appliance interoperability standards,
cyber security, and business case challenges--are beyond the scope of
this request, except insofar as they bear on the primary topics
identified above. One or more future requests for comment may be
organized to obtain input on these additional issues. Discussions of
all of the above topics are also ongoing in
[[Page 6416]]
several forums, including the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel
established by NIST and the GridWise Architecture Council established
by DOE. Relevant input received through this request will be shared
with NIST, DOE, and other interested Federal agencies.
M. David Hodge,
Operations Manager.
[FR Doc. 2010-2813 Filed 2-8-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P