IEEE PSCC Update Industry Updates

IEEE PES PSCC Update

by Craig Palmer, PowerComm Solutions, USA

In September 2024 the IEEE Power & Energy Society’s Power System Communications & Cybersecurity Committee (PSCCC) met in-person in Scottsdale, Arizona; this was the last in-person meeting for 2024. Following are some highlights from the meeting and from the recent activity of the PSCCC. 

Recently Published PSCCC Reports & Standards: The PSCCC is pleased to congratulate the following groups on their published outputs:

  • P10WG IEEE 2664-2024: Standard for Streaming Telemetry Transport Protocol (STTP) Chair: Ken Martin

This protocol was initially designed for streaming power system data over Internet protocol (IP) communication systems. It is focused on streaming real-time measurements but can be used with any type of continuously flowing data. It features built-in security and lossless data compression options for efficient transport…It has been proven and refined in several demonstration projects and production environments.

  • S10TF: Utility & Municipality Challenges on Analyzing and Implementing Cybersecurity Standards and Best Practices (TR-125) Chair: Jeff Pack

From the summary: This report provides guidance specifically to the cybersecurity issues of electric utilities focused on smaller geographical areas or specific areas of the electrical grid, such as distribution, distributed renewable generation, or small regional transmission.

P10WG is also the first IEEE PES PSCCC working group to incorporate open-source material into their standard. The IEEE-2664 open-source files are available at https://opensource.ieee.org/sttp/sttp/

Membership Update: The Main Committee of the PSCCC recognized four members for their long-term contributions to the PSCCC and the industry in general. These members have either retired or otherwise moved on from regular PSCCC service but maintain a relationship with the PSCCC Main Committee. Congratulations to the four new PSCCC Emeritus Members:

  • William “Bill” Byrd
  • Vasudev Gharpure
  • Marc Lacroix
  • Roger Ray

Also, the Power Line Carrier subcommittee (C0) recognized outgoing PSRC Standards Coordinator Don Lukach of Ameren IL for his contributions and guidance to the committee over the years.

Leadership Changes: The September meeting in Scottsdale, AZ was the last one as Chair for outgoing Chair / incoming Past-Chair James Formea. The membership of the PSCCC expressed its appreciation for James’ committed service over the last 6 years. The officers will rotate out of the old and into the new effective on the first day of the 2025 IEEE PES JTCM in Garden Grove, CA. Marc Benou will take over as Chair, with Craig Palmer as Vice-Chair. 

And…Congratulations to incoming PSCCC Secretary, Eric Thibodeau! Eric breaks the proverbial mold by being first Executive Officer of the PSCCC Main Committee, in its latest iteration, to represent an Electric Utility (Hydro Quebec). Eric chairs several working groups in the PSCCC and is well prepared for this role. Good luck Eric!

The PSCCC officers also wish to thank outgoing PSRC Chair Michael Thompson for his service over the last 6 years, and Jim Niemira for his wrangling of the joint committee agendas over the last 2 (thanks Jim!).

IEEE PES JTCM 2025: The PSCCC will have its first meeting of 2025 in January in Garden Grove. Highlight: for the first time in this iteration of the PSCCC, the Optical Fiber subcommittee (F0) will be meeting alongside the three other concurrently-meeting subcommittees (Power Line Carrier (C0), Protocols & Communications Architecture (P0), and Cybersecurity (S0)).

IEC 61850: The PSCCC has several groups (and many professionals) involved in work related to IEC 61850. S15WG will be meeting to discuss implications and takeaways from the 2024 IEC Interoperability Tests in Birmingham, AL. If you are involved in this new technology and looking to contribute expertise while learning from other industry experts, the IEEE PES PSCCC is a great place to be. Work is underway to investigate mapping between IEC 61850 and IEEE-1815 (DNP3), mapping between C37.118.2 and IEC 61850, beginner’s guide to IEC 61850, revising IEC 61850-9-3-2016 (PTP profile), securing GOOSE messages, and more.

And as always, be sure to visit the PSCCC website at 

https://site.ieee.org/pes-pscc/ and follow @IEEE_PES_PSCC on Twitter, IEEE-PES-PSCC on LinkedIn for other news and announcements from the Committee!  

Biography:

Craig M. Palmer received his Bachelor of Science in Electronics & Computer Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) in 2011. He has worked on power system protection and communications since then, first with RFL Electronics in Boonton, NJ. He is presently Lead Application Engineer at PowerComm Solutions, where he focuses on Power Line Carrier applications for high-speed transmission line protection schemes. He is a participant in the IEEE Power System Relaying & Control Committee (PSRC), a member of the Power Line Carrier subcommittee (C0) in the Power System Communications & Cybersecurity Committee (PSCCC), present Secretary of the PSCCC, and a Senior Member of IEEE.