SEPA releases new Smart Grid Ontology tool

The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) and its Electric Grid Ontology Task Force released a tool that provides a model to discuss current and future smart grid technologies unambiguously.

Smart grid interoperability standards and deployment require a universal vocabulary and framework to define utility information exchanges and relationships. The Smart Grid Ontology tool provides that common language framework.

“The SEPA Smart Grid Ontology project directly addresses the misunderstanding and ambiguity within the smart grid systems architecture today,” Ron Cunningham, IT enterprise architect at American Electric Power, said. “If widely adopted, the resulting formal ontology(s) can reduce the frustrations and inefficiencies posed by those miscommunications.”

Successful implementation for the electric grid will require broad industry acceptance, so SEPA invites utilities to use this new tool in their testing environments.

“The SEPA Smart Grid Ontology is an illustrative example of SEPA’s value to our members and the broader industry,” Ben Ealey, principal, grid integration at SEPA, said. “We hope that this tool will help reduce costs and mitigate delays as the industry moves down the grid modernization roadmap. I’m personally excited to join SEPA and continue to develop and deploy innovative solutions in collaboration with the industry.”

Ealey leads SEPA’s focus on reducing the friction points in grid modernization to accelerate clean energy deployment. He will also lead future efforts in the smart grid ontology project.