NARUC rolls out Smart Grid Interoperability Learning Modules

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Center for Partnerships and Innovation has introduced a series of Smart Grid Interoperability Learning Modules.

The learning modules include 12 educational videos, all 15 minutes or less, designed for state utility commissions focused on the economics of interoperability, operational considerations for interoperability, and roles and responsibilities of state utility regulators.

The videos feature expert commentary from officials from the U.S. Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology, the U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories, university professors, and others. Also, public utility commission staff from Michigan and Minnesota offer video descriptions of how they have leveraged interoperability in their states. Each module contains links to glossary terms and recommended reading.

“NARUC’s interoperability learning modules are an easy way to select bite-sized topics to explore, depending on what topics are most relevant to us at any given moment,” Wally Nixon, managing attorney at the Arkansas Public Service Commission, said. “Complicated information is presented in a simplified way by well-versed industry experts.”

Interoperability is the ability of two or more systems or components to exchange information and to use the exchanged. Interoperability increases system-wide benefit and helps achieve policy objectives, including safety, reliability, resilience, and affordability, said NARUC officials. Higher levels of interoperability require more effort but are lower cost in the long run.

“Interoperability is a way to manage risk and costs. Utility regulators can get some great training to understand what they need to know about interoperability through the NARUC interoperability learning modules,” Commissioner Sarah Freeman of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission said.

The Smart Grid Interoperability Learning Modules and a short companion guide are available online at http://bit.ly/smartgridmodules.