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Federal Smart Grid Initiatives highlights key government-sponsored programs and activities related to the development and modernization of the electric grid in the United States.

Federal Smart Grid Initiatives

DOE Addresses Privacy for Data Enabled by Smart Grid Technologies: Convenes Multistakeholder Process to develop Voluntary Code of Conduct

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Federal Smart Grid Task Force, led by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (DOE OE) convened the first meeting in the multistakeholder process. The goal of the process is to develop a Voluntary Code of Conduct (VCC) for utilities and third parties providing consumer energy use services that will addresses privacy related to data enabled by smart grid technologies.

Work Groups

Work Groups have been established to focus on the development of the mission statement and the evaluation of different aspects of the proposed VCC elements. If you are interested in participating in a Work Group or have questions regarding their activities, please contact the appropriate lead directly.

Work Group Leads

  1. Mission Statement Work Group – Lead: Dan Francis, AEP, defrancis@aep.com
  2. Notice/Awareness Work Group - Lead: Boris Segalis, Information Law Group, bsegalis@infolawgroup.com
  3. Choice/Consent Work Group – Lead: Eric Ackerman, EEI, eackerman@eei.org
  4. Access/Participation Work Group – Lead: Megan Hertzler, Xcel Energy, megan.hertzler@xcelenergy.com
  5. Integrity/Security Work Group – Lead: Ward Pyles, Southern Company, wpyles@southernco.com
  6. Management/Redress Work Group - Lead: Chuck Piotrowski, Green Mountain Power, chuck.piotrowski@greenmountainpower.com

Next Meeting

Date: June 4, 2013
Location: Edison Electric Institute, 701 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004-2696
Time: 9:30 am-5:00 pm EDT

The meeting will also be webcast. Remote participants will be able to participate in the meeting. Details on remote participation will posted seven days prior to the meeting and will also be sent to registrants.

For security reasons, in person participants will need to pre-register for the meeting.

The meeting is open to the public and the press.

Registration

Please register your intent to participate in the meeting:

Previous Meetings

The first meeting took place on February 26, 2013 from 9:30am to 4:30 pm in Washington, DC. Stakeholders engaged in an open, transparent, consensus-driven process to develop the VCC. The objectives of the meeting were to 1) promote discussion among stakeholders regarding a proposed VCC outline, including the types of data to be covered and 2) establish procedural rules for developing the VCC.

Access the meeting webcast archive via the following link:  http://capitolconnection.net/capcon/DOE/vcc022613.htm

Download the meeting webcast archive in Windows Media Video format: Windows Media Player
Download the meeting webcast archive in Flash Video format: Flash Video Player

February 26, 2013 Meeting Documents

Background

Throughout the U.S., intelligence is being added to the grid through the deployment of advanced technologies and grid modernization efforts. This increased intelligence has led to concerns regarding consumer data access and the privacy of consumer energy consumption data. Historically, utilities have taken very seriously the job of protecting customers’ privacy, and privacy and security protections will remain fundamental objectives.  However, with the new technologies being deployed today, these fundamental protections warrant new attention. Consumers must feel secure that their data will be protected and treated responsibly. Therefore, it is important that stakeholders on all sides of the privacy debate work together to address concerns and coordinate activities.

On January 31, 2012, U.S. DOE hosted the Smart Grid Privacy Workshop to facilitate a dialog among key industry stakeholders. In addition, on February 23, 2012, the White House released the report, Consumer Data Privacy in a Networked World: A Framework for Protecting Privacy and Promoting Innovation in the Global Digital Economy (Privacy Blueprint).  Outlined in the Privacy Blueprint is a multistakeholer process for developing legally enforceable voluntary codes of conduct that, if adopted by businesses, would instill consumer confidence.

In response to workshop findings and in support of the Privacy Blueprint, DOE OE and the Federal Smart Grid Task Force will facilitate a multistakeholder process to develop a VCC for utilities and third parties providing consumer energy use services. The VCC will establish a common set of practices that will provide privacy protections for consumers with regard to access, use, and sharing of electricity usage and related data and will provide regulators and decision makers with a resource for evaluating potential privacy regulations and practices.