Smart Grid Interoperability Panel

Smart Grid Interoperability Panel or SGIP is an organization that defines requirements for a smarter electric grid by driving interoperability, the use of standard, and collaborating across organizations to address gaps and issue hindering the deployment of smart grid technologies.

SGIP facilitates and runs different working groups to address key topical areas such as the architecture group, the grid management group, the cybersecurity group, the distributed resources and generation group, and the testing and certification group.

History
SGIP 1.0 was established in December 2009 as a new stakeholder forum to provide technical support to the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) with the assistance from Knoxville and EnerNex Corp, under a contract enabled by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

SGIP 2.0 was established as a public-private organization which transitioned into a non-profit public-private partnership organization in 2013.

Function
The prime functions of SGIP is reported to be- SGIP 1.0’s initial focus was to define the industry standards for 20 categories, representing every domain in the power industry and these categories include:
 * To specify testing and certification requirements that are necessary in order to improve interoperability Smart Grid-related equipment, software, and services.
 * To provide technical guidance to facilitate the development of standards for a secure, interoperable Smart Grid.
 * To supervise the performance of activities intended to expedite the development of interoperability and cybersecurity specifications by standard development organizations.
 * To foster innovation and address gaps hindering the acceleration of grid modernization.
 * To educate, facilitate the collaboration, and provide solutions to grid modernization.
 * 1) Appliance and consumer electronic providers
 * 2) Commercial and industrial equipment manufacturers and automation vendors
 * 3) Consumers - residential, commercial and industrial
 * 4) Electric transportation
 * 5) Electric utility companies - investor owned utilities and federal and state power authorities
 * 6) Electric utility companies - municipal and investor owned
 * 7) Electric utility companies - rural electric association
 * 8) Electricity and financial market traders
 * 9) Independent power producers
 * 10) Information and communication technologies infrastructure and service providers
 * 11) Information technology application developers and integrators
 * 12) Power equipment manufacturers and vendors
 * 13) Professional societies, users groups, trade associations and industry consortia
 * 14) Research and development organizations and academia
 * 15) Relevant government entities
 * 16) Renewable power producers
 * 17) Retail service providers
 * 18) Standards and specification development organizations
 * 19) State and local regulators
 * 20) Testing and certification vendors
 * 21) Transmission operators and independent system operators
 * 22) Venture capital

When SGIP 1.0 transitioned to SGIP 2.0, LLC, the focus remained for interoperability and addressing gaps in standards and also focused on Distributed Energy Resources, EnergyIoT, Cybersecurity and Orange Button.

Overview
In 2013, SGIP was the recipient of PMI Distinguished Project Award.

In November 2014, Sharon Allan was appointed as the president and CEO of SGIP.

In October 2015, SGIP partnered with Industrial Internet Consortium in order to develop technologies and testbeds to accelerate IoT adoption in the energy sector.

In November 2015, SGIP was the recipient of the Smart Grid Interoperability Standards Cooperative Agreement Program federal funding opportunity from NIST, during which, SGIP was reported to receive $2.1 million during the performance period from January 1, 2016, to December 2018.

In March 2016, SGIP announced that the Open Field Message Bus (OpenFMB) was ratified as a standard through a NAESB Retail Market Quadrant member vote. OpenFMB is said to be SGIP’s EnergyIoT initiative, bringing the IoT and advanced interoperability to the power grid.

In April 2016, the organization received $615,426 from US Department of Energy, which was used for reducing non-hardware soft-costs associated with solar projects.

In February 2017, SGIP merged with Smart Electric Power Alliance(SEPA) under SEPA brand and organizational umbrella.