Smart Grid Enterprise Application Interoperability Needs Assessment and the MultiSpeak® Specification

This paper identifies and characterizes in detail the enterprise software application interfaces that will be required to facilitate the eventual smart grid functionality. Each interface is defined in terms of the framework for smart grid standards developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Many of these interfaces will be demonstrated as part of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)’s smart grid demonstration project. The paper evaluates the adequacy of the current MultiSpeak specification and delineates the needed extensions to that specification that will be required in order to fulfill the needs of end-to-end demand response and advanced distribution grid management. Furthermore, the paper summarizes the results of a survey of existing standards, specifications, and protocols including those in progress, and lays out how developments in those standards will impact future MultiSpeak efforts. The paper outlines a plan for including the output of other standards setting organizations (SSOs). This plan provides an approach to harmonization that could be used as a model for other smart grid SSOs attempting to adapt to an evolving standards landscape.