Under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), the Smart Grid National Coordination project leads, coordinates and manages the national public-private stakeholder partnership effort for “the development of interoperability standards.” The main target of the project is to ensure that over the next 20 years the smart grids investment in the U.S. will be interoperable and secure, and promotes international harmonization and alignment to maximize the ability of U.S. manufacturers to compete in a global smart grid market.

The project also provides programmatic leadership of NIST-wide smart grid measurement science research conducted in the Engineering Laboratory, the Physical Measurement Laboratory, the Information Technology Laboratory, and the Communication Technology Laboratory. NIST relies on partnerships with external organizations to convene stakeholders and amplify NIST’s outreach capabilities with community-specific guidance and communications that complement the technical content of NIST publications.

The project has three components: Smart Grid Secretariat, Stakeholder Engagement Activities, and Smart Grid Measurement Science Program Development and Management. The Smart Grid Secretariat actively promotes the results of NIST’s smart grid program through publications in industry journals and invited talks at technical programs of major smart grid conferences and workshops. The Smart Grid Measurement Science Program Development and Management is to effectively leverage NIST unique capabilities in measurement science to address key technical and measurement barriers in smart grid development and deployment.