NECA

Smart Grid Task Group Will Be Chaired by NECA Executive Director Michael Johnston

The National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) has been asked to chair a “smart grid task group” made up of key stakeholders from the electrical construction industry responsible for building and standardizing a more efficient national electric grid. Michael Johnston, NECA’s executive director, standards and safety, will serve as the task group chair.

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is convening the task group. The federal government is looking to organizations such as the NFPA and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to provide leadership on implementing smart grid technology nationwide, and NIST is reaching out to the organizations that create standards for the electric industry.

NFPA has also invited representatives from the National Grid plc, Schneider Electric/Square D, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), and others to participate. The group’s mission and organization is still taking shape, but Johnston has already begun reviewing the current state of the U.S. electrical infrastructure and determining what coordination issues the task force will need to address between utilities, service providers, customers, standards developers and manufacturers.

“The Obama administration has made the smart grid a high priority, and we have the technology to make it a reality,” Johnston said. “But the technology requires a new level of coordination between systems on both the customer and utility ends of the service point.”

Functionally, “service point” refers to “the junction where a utility’s wiring ends and a customer’s wiring begins,” Johnston said. In a smart grid, not only will a customer’s power usage be recorded, but that information will be communicated back to the power generation and transmission facilities in real time. This data will then allow the utility to “shed load” when demand for power is low and step it up when demand increases.

“It’s a true demand response system,” Johnston said. “The good news is that the highway is already built – meaning we have a linked system of power generation, transmission, and distribution. With the smart grid, we’re going to be adding instrumentation such as sensors, relays and other technologies to communicate what’s going on and automatically modify what’s going out based on that information.”

Electrical contractors have always worked on both ends of the service points. Power line contractors work with utilities to transmit and distribute high-voltage electricity. “Inside” contractors plan and install the wiring, electrical, lighting and communication systems for structures.

 These two areas of the industry are regulated by different national codes – IEEE’s National Electrical Safety Code (NESC) for high-voltage transmission and distribution, and NFPA’s National Electrical Code (NEC) for wiring not covered by the NESC including structural wiring and electrical devices. One objective of this  task group is  preventing code and protocol conflicts before they start.

 “A smart grid means that more than power line work is going to be  common to both inside and power line contractors. Both sides will now have to work and coordinate  the installations of instruments, sensors, information technology and signaling equipment that tie the system together,” Johnston said. A key component of the smart grid ensuring all components effectively provide information back and forth.

This coordination is vitally important since another component of the smart grid is bringing user-produced power back into the electric grid. Facilities and homes that use photovoltaic panels, windmills, or other alternative energy producing equipment will be able to send their unused electricity through the utility lines to other locations experiencing high demand.

Johnston pointed out that electrical contractors have to be  involved with setting up these power-producing systems for customers. “Or if they aren’t, then they should be,” he remarked. “With solar panels, homeowner’s are basically installing an electric power production source somewhere on their premises, usually the roof. If homeowners want to make sure this equipment is installed and operates correctly, and is safe, then they should be working with an experienced electrical contractor, not just the product manufacturer or a roofer.”

Johnston also remarked that “electrical contractors are qualified and equipped to professionally install these new emerging power source technologies and the essential wiring that integrates them with utility power sources.”

A "Smarter" Grid

P.K. Sen, professor of engineering at the Colorado School of Mines and NECA researcher, recently remarked that the "U.S. national electrical grid has always been smart. It's already the most reliable and responsive electrical system in the world. What we're trying to do now is creating a 'smarter' grid to secure a better future for how we deliver and use electricity."

Johnston is pleased by the Administration’s desire to avoid confusion and compliance issues, despite the push to get a national smart grid up and running soon. “We’ll have to work quickly and thoroughly to be effective within the ongoing Code review cycles, but everyone on the task group is an expert,” he said. “We’re all committed to improving the national electric grid and making better  use of the power we create.”

Updates on the Smart Grid Task Group’s review process and recommendations will be made available as their work progresses. Johnston is available as a media source on the potential code and compliance issues that will be a part of smart grid implementation.

NECA is the voice of the $130 billion electrical construction industry that brings power, light, and communication technology to buildings and communities across the U.S. NECA’s national office and 119 local chapters advance the industry through advocacy, education, research and standards development. For more information, visit www.necanet.org.

Contact Information

Beth Margulies, Director, Public Relations

301-215-4526, beth.margulies@necanet.org