Energy Resource Economics
SMART INVERTER WORKING GROUP MEETING
1950.002
1/8/2015
Admin
· Jamie has a note for non-PG&E parties about shakeups in CPUC staffing
o All smart inverter is not under the president of the CPUC
· Jon Mathias has been working in the same office as Rachel for a year and is taking over her responsibilities
Categories of Rule 21 Decisions
· What Goes in Rule 21?
o The scope of SIWG Phase 2 shall be the communications requirements between:
· Utilities and individual DER systems
· Utilities and facility FDEMS
o Cyber security requirements shall include authentication, authorization, accountability and data integrity at a minimum. Other requirements may be added.
· Is this sufficient for now?
· Richard Bravo (SCE) clarified that what is contained in these slides is only for phase 2
· Vladimir: Are the security requirements included in SEP profile (yes). Is SEP is the minimum?
§ Not quite b/c security applies even if not using SEP 2 which is why it's spelled out separately. This should be discussed for DNP3.
· Frances: SEP2 provides all the things listed (authentication, authorization, etc.) and will make it clear that SEP2 as a protocol includes its cyber security requirements but am hesitant to add SEP2 under the last bullet.
· Frances noted that Rule 21 is not meant to be updated frequently so it should not include too many details. It is best to include language referring to a handbook for details. The handbook can be updated more frequently. Rule 21 does not require
· What Goes in a "Utility Handbook"?
o Frances: how often it would be updated is unclear to me, and it may be that some parts never get updated while other parts change as technology and understanding changes
o Date and version
o Frances added "Registration and administration of communications" at the suggestion of Greg
· Under Rule 21, you have the registration of the device itself and other registration can be dealt with in the handbook
o Categorization of what is in the system
· e.g. DER systems close to substations will be considered group 31 and may have different functions
o Timeframe for the requirements to be met
· Different timelines for various things
o Default SEP 2 profile
· Might reference other documents like SunSpec Alliance document for details
· Rick Montano: this would be good to have in the handbook but should be noted that this is across all utilities
· Phil Udercuffler: there may be things that differ across utilities but have a general outline they all agree to
· Frances noted that more work needs to be done on cyber security
o Testing and certification requirements
o Frances asked parties if this meets what should be in the handbook
· Vladimir Bronstein: clarify communications language and specify that there are requirements for communication protocol specification
§ Frances noted that in Rule 21, we would have the basic data exchange and protocol requirements. There can be other protocols used by mutual agreement. The handbook would pick up on the details
· Greg Smith: even if it's in a separate attachment, I want to have default protocol mapped out clearly so people don't misinterpret it. It should be shared across the three utilities. It is good to have the whole protocol specified and not just the data objects
§ Frances agreed
· Frances suggested that an outline be generated in the near future
· What is Decided by Mutual utility-DER Agreement
o Whether communications are to be established between the utility and (directly or indirectly) the DER system
o Which protocol to be used (e.g. the default SEP 2, a real-time protocol such as DNP3 or other)
· Greg: there does not need to be a lot of detail here. As long as you meet the security requirements, you can use what you want.
· What is Left to Vendors and Market?
o The development of gateways that translate to the utility communication requirements
o The communication technologies used by the DER system between its communication module and the gateway to the utility
Next Steps
· Frances hopes to put the PowerPoint text into the phase 2 document
· Frances will send an updated document by Monday