RD³ Overview

Architecture & Communication Standards

Architectural framework and components to enable interoperability of all components and systems in the nation’s power grid including the existing legacy systems 

This Program Area aims at providing enabling platform(s) to integrate electric delivery services with market operations to provide customer choice for quality and economics. The architecture for such platform(s) and associated communication standards will be developed, with acceptance by industry, for integration of communications, information systems, control, and market systems. 

The scope of stakeholder and institutional adoption encompasses facilitating establishment of the GridWise Alliance involving utility/communications/ information technology sectors; promoting state and federal adoption of uniform interconnection standards; and supporting state regulatory reforms to remove rate/tariff barriers to DER and CHP. 

Activities supported by the Electric Distribution Program and its collaborating partners include the following: 

   Current Projects

GridWise Architecture and Standards
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 

GridWise Alliance and Stakeholder Engagement
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 

Regulatory and Institutional Issues
National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

E2I-CEIDS Collaboration Project
Consortium for Electric Infrastructure to Support a Digital Society (CEIDS) 

Technical Assistance to Regulatory Bodies
The Regulatory Assistance Project 

Analysis and Development of Electric Utility Model Rates and Tariffs Affecting DER
The Center for the Advancement of Energy Market 

Integrated Energy and Communications Systems Architecture (IECSA)
CEIDS 

Open Communication Architecture for Distributed Energy Resources in Advanced Distribution Automation
CEIDS