Governing Board of Smart Grid Standards Panel Announces Officers

The Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced today that John D. McDonald, general manager of marketing for GE Energy's transmission and distribution business and an IEEE Fellow, will serve as chair of the governing board of the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel, the organization launched by NIST in November to sustain and coordinate development of interoperability standards for a modernized electric power grid.

The unanimous choice of governing board members, McDonald will serve as the board's chief spokesperson and will have primary responsibility for organizing its meetings and activities. As required by the SGIP bylaws, McDonald's selection to lead the board was confirmed by George Arnold, NIST's national coordinator for Smart Grid interoperability. The board also chose John F. Caskey, senior director of the Power Equipment Division at the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, to be vice chair and George Bjelovuk, managing director for marketing, research, and program development at American Electric Power, to serve as secretary. All three officers will serve one-year terms. NIST established the SGIP, which now has more than 450 participating and observing member organizations, to help it fulfill its Smart Grid responsibilities under the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act. The governing board manages and coordinates the technical efforts of the SGIP. In turn, the SGIP is both a forum for discussing Smart Grid technical issues and a vehicle for inter-organizational collaboration to respond to these issues and to address emerging requirements for Smart Grid standards.