Crucial to maintaining security will be establishing industry standards. At the smart grid policy meeting held last week, FERC Acting Chairman Jon Wellinghoff issued a statement calling for the development of "standards to ensure the reliability and security, both physical and cyber, of the electric system." While FERC doesn't itself develop standards, the agency will be asking for input from standards bodies that work on security in the Internet, engineering, and electronics industries. Over the next month and a half, companies and consumers can offer their thoughts as to the direction the standards will take.
The second factor needed to secure the smart grid will be an open platform. This sounds counterintuitive, but as Pacific Crest's Schuman explains, the most robust security systems out there are largely based on already established open standards. In order for third-party developers to be able to contribute their best solutions to a smart power grid, it must be based on an open platform as well.
Ultimately the hurdles to securing the smart grid are not impossibly high. The benefits of offering consumers and utilities more control over energy consumption—reducing energy use and carbon reduction—far outweigh the security concerns.
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