August 1, 2021

Newsletter for the GRID DATA Repository and BetterGrids Foundation, Inc.

Summer 2021 BetterGrids Newsletter

2021 Update

We have made good progress on achieving our 2021 Strategic Goals as summarized in the following table despite the challenges of the ongoing pandemic. We have also seen a growth in the Repository registered users and models with a newly operationalized BetterGrids Forum. Note in particular an upcoming model addition titled SMART-DS from NREL that offers realistic large-scale U.S. electrical distribution models for testing and analyzing advanced grid algorithms.

#2021 Strategic GoalsProgress to Date
1Expand the Repository knowledge base to include clearer instructions for model submissionMoving forward with subscription to Atlassian Confluence. Content created and ready for upload.
2Operationalize the GRIDEON Secure Collaboration Site
  • Published 3 universal NDA’s on website free to use
  • Published 15 page whitepaper to propose an industry standard for End to End Encryption for NERC CIP data exchange
3Operationalize the newly developed BetterGrids ForumBetterGrids.org forum has been operationalized following a pre- production review on functionality, usability, security, and aesthetics
4Engage one more grid model Curator to help with the expansion of the Repositoryof the Repository 1 new curator engaged (Jason Lin).

BetterGrids Secure Data Exchange

GridBright Inc is operating a secure exchange for BetterGrids.org free of charge to enable secure data exchange and efficient collaboration among the 50+ volunteers supporting the Foundation. It is based on the GRIDEON technology that GridBright has developed in collaboration with Mid- Carolina Electric Cooperative and MISO with funding from DOE ARPA-E.

Public Domain Universal NDA’s

The Secure Grid Data Exchange (SGDX) Working Group of BetterGrids has developed a set of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) for exchange of sensitive grid data. These Universal NDAs are now available publicly free of charge and can be downloaded from: www.bettergrids.org/media/universal-nda. These NDAs consist of:

  1. a one-way NDA
  2. a mutual NDA
  3. a group (i.e., multi-lateral) NDA

BetterGrids Forum

One of the 2020 Strategic Goals was to develop a forum that will help increase BetterGrids community engagement. The forum was designed with input from the Technical Committee and underwent a pre- production review on functionality, usability, security, and aesthetics. The BetterGrids Forum is now fully operational and can be accessed via https://db.bettergrids.org/forum.

Open CIP

BetterGrids has produced a concept whitepaper for ‘OpenCip’ outlining how the utility industry can use End-to-End Encryption technology for Secure Grid Integration. To download the OpenCIP concept whitepaper:

https://www.bettergrids.org/opencip- concept-whitepaper

 

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