Smart Grid Standards: Road Map a Month Away; Vint Cerf Weighs in

The smart grid standards-making process has been one of the most condensed, complex standards work to date, given the rush to quickly deliver a road map before the billions of dollars are allocated from the stimulus package. And it looks like we have just about a month left to wait: The producers of the GridWeek conference, which will take place Sept. 21-24 in Washington, D.C., tell us that the smart grid standards road map will be announced at the show. That puts the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), which has been spearheading the standards efforts, on track to meet its goal to get the road map out in September. NIST has its eye on the ball — this weekend the group said it has awarded consulting and engineering firm EnerNex Corp. an $8.5 million, 2-year contract to help keep the accelerated pace of the smart grid standards going. EnerNex will be creating panels around key smart grid issues that will be identified in the September road map.