Smart Grid & Cyber Security for Energy Assurance

Citation
National Association of State Energy Officials, Smart Grid & Cyber Security for Energy Assurance (Dec. 2010) (full-text).

Overview
This paper is organized in three principal parts:


 * 1) An overview of the smart grid, the process for developing a smart grid, and examples of smart grid applications and their benefits, with particular focus on energy assurance.
 * 2) Guidance for State officials to assess the status of smart grid deployment in their States as part of their longer term energy assurance plans.
 * 3) A step-by-step approach to building cyber security capability at the State level. NASEO recommends that this capability be developed and sustained in State energy agencies, as this is an issue that will continue to grow in importance.

This document is intended to provide guidance to State energy agencies &mdash; including State energy offices and public utility commissions &mdash; on potential roles, ideas, and areas to consider in the planning process. It is not intended to be prescriptive or exhaustive. The guidance should be used as appropriate, depending on the level of smart grid investment and cyber security development in a State. For States with little to no activity, a brief description of potential future activities may be sufficient for their energy assurance plans.

Finally, the guidance is provided with the expectation that State regulatory approaches on cyber security do not inhibit smart grid implementation. Rather it suggests that States develop the capability to build and maintain a knowledge base of existing and developing standards to help assure their appropriate implementation, and to assure that the potential benefits of smart grid are realized as those investments are made.