by James Formea, Eaton, USA
The IEEE PES Power System Communications and Cybersecurity Committee (PSCCC) again joined forces with the Power System Relaying & Control Committee for a joint week of meetings September 12-15, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Even with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic still fresh on the minds of attendees, the rhythm of the week finally seemed to feel a bit more normal, kicked off by a lively awards ceremony during the Monday night dinner. PSCCC hosted meetings for more than thirty working groups, task forces, study groups, and subcommittees throughout the week, with a meeting of the Main Committee on Thursday to receive reports from each subcommittee and wrap up a very productive week.
The Power Line Carrier Subcommittee (C0) reported on their continued work to revise IEEE Standard 643-2014, Guide for Power Line Carrier Applications, as well as the start of a new project to revise IEEE Standard C93.4, Standard for Power Line Carrier Line-Tuning Equipment (30 kHz to 500 kHz) Associated with Power Transmission Lines.
The Protocols and Communications Architecture Subcommittee (P0) provided updates on the activities of their active sub-groups, but most notably announced the formation of a new Task Force, P21, which is charged with the development of a technical report on the impact of centralized protection and control systems as described in IEEE PC37.300, Guide for Centralized Protection and Control (CPC) Systems within a Substation, and other related standards.
The formation of this Task Force kicks off the next phase of this ongoing work, which started as a PSCCC Study Group in July of 2021. The Study Group reviewed technologies, standards, and available solutions in the space, with the participation of many industry representatives, and prepared a proposal for work to be completed to update existing IEEE standards to address the impacts of CPC systems and CPC-based systems.
The Study Group report also recommended the development of a new standard to address non-communications performance requirements for CPC systems, as well as a new guide to address CPC system architectures supporting the virtualization of substation protection, control, monitoring, communication, and asset management functions. The new Task Force will be jointly sponsored by the Power System Relaying & Control Committee, with direct input expected from the:
- Protection and Control Practices (I) and
- Relaying Communications and Control (H) Subcommittees.
The Cybersecurity Subcommittee (S0) received approval from the Main Committee to allow Working Group S1 to submit the latest draft of IEEE P1686, Standard for Intelligent Electronic Devices Cyber Security Capabilities, to RevCom for publication. The draft passed through its last recirculation with an approval rate of 95% with an 80% ballot return rate. Congratulations to the members of the Working Group!
S0 also received approval to modify the scope of Working Group S7’s PAR for IEEE P2808, Function Designations used in Electrical Power Systems for Cyber Services and Cybersecurity, to clarify that the new standard will define engineering and modeling documentation intended to use the designations defined and applied in the standard. In addition to these actions, the S0 Subcommittee provided updates on its other active sub-groups and requested the consideration of a panel session proposal by the Main Committee for the 2023 PES General Meeting.
Preparations are well underway for the 2023 IEEE PES Joint Technical Committee Meeting, which will serve as the first of three annual meetings of the PSCCC in the new year.
The JTCM will be held in Jacksonville, Florida, January 8-12, 2023. More information can be found on the JTCM website at https://pestechnical.org.
Be sure to follow @IEEE_PES_PSCC on Twitter and IEEE-PES-PSCC on LinkedIn for other news and announcements from the Committee!
Biography:
James Formea earned his BSEE from Marquette University and is Engineering Manager for Control Systems & Technology in the Power Systems Division of Eaton, where he leads a diverse team of engineers in the specification, implementation, and field support of system protection, communications, automation, and cybersecurity features across Eaton’s portfolio of medium voltage distribution system controls. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and is the Vice Chair of the IEEE PES Power System Communications and Cybersecurity Committee. He is also a member of IEC Technical Committee 57 Working Group 15. When not working on utility solutions or industry standards, he can be found supporting public safety communications interoperability and incident management initiatives as an officer with his local fire department.
