Public Comment Periods

Public comment periods are afoot for two significant Smart Grid standards:

• The long-awaited SEP2.0 will be out for public comment for 30 days. Find it at http://zigbee.org/smartenergy
  
  
• ASHRAE SPC201P is available for 45 days for public comment. You can download the relevant documents from ASHRAE:
  • Public Review Draft
  • UML Model
  • Instructions for Commenters

Why are these important?

• SEP 2.0 looks likely to be one of the dominant standards for Smart Grid data structures, at least in some areas.
• ASHRAE SPC201P is the first real "customer-side driven" standard coming out of PAP17.

If you are planning to make devices for customer systems to interact with an intelligent grid, time of use rates, AMI, or any other modern customer energy management system, you will need to interact with one or both of these standards.

What are the limitations?

I haven't reviewed these iterations yet myself, but my understanding is that SPC201P most fully supports Commercial Buildings, with Industrial and Residential use cases less fully supported. This is a bit disappointing, but not unexpected, since people in the Industrial and Residential spaces didn't engage the process.

This isn't the time to complain about that, though. Take note of the use cases that aren't covered that matter to you, and note in your comments that the use cases should be covered in an update. If you make that comment, be ready to step up to the plate and participate in the update.

What should I be looking for in my review?

• Do they meet the requirements of the input documents, specifically the EIS Alliance's Customer Energy Management System Use Cases & Requirements* among others?
  
  
• Do they meet the requirements of systems or devices you plan on making? 

* Fair Disclaimer:  I'm the Executive Director of the EIS Alliance