Information Bulletin

The conference report has combined provisions from the House bill (Jumpstarting Opportunity with Broadband Spectrum (JOBS) Act) and the Senate bill (Strengthening Public-safety and Enhancing Communications Through Reform, Utilization, and Modernization (SPECTRUM) Act, S. 911) concerning the ability to access either the network capacity or network infrastructure for the purposes of providing non-public safety services.

As the energy industry moves forward in the development and deployment of smart energy grids, marketing ploys that misrepresent utility capabilities and needs have been implemented that are designed to skew both utility decisions and regulatory oversight. The marketing ploys ignore the fact that utilities will ultimately choose to build their own networks or buy telecom services based upon technical requirements, costs and levels of service required.

On Wednesday, December 8, 2010, the Department of Energy hosted a “Spectrum Policy Seminar”, featuring presentations by high-level representatives from the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology, the Wireless Bureau, and the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, as well as representatives from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

The release of Guidelines for Smart Grid Cyber Security1, draft version one, points to the pivotal role cybersecurity will play in the deployment and protection of the smart grid. The document draws from several years of effort by National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST) staff and other efforts to secure Information Technology systems, and has been adapted for the smart grid by the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel Cyber Security Working Group (SGIP‐CSWG). Version one is scheduled for publication on August 31, 2010.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued this morning its National Broadband Plan. This 360-page document is a comprehensive and Congressionally mandated set of recommendations aimed at ensuring that every American has access to affordable broadband services and that government maximizes the use of broadband to advance a number of policy goals, including better public safety and homeland security as well as energy independence and efficiency.

In response to a remand of two issues from the appeal of the FCC’s 2004 BPL technical rules (ARRL v. FCC (524 F.3d 227 (D.C. Cir. 2008)), the FCC has initiated a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM), which invites comment on both the extrapolation factor for measuring BPL emissions and on unredacted FCC staff technical studies of BPL emissions. Specifically, the FCC is reexamining whether it should adopt a more conservative extrapolation factor for BPL emissions below 30 MHz.

The FCC has issued a Public Notice requesting comment by October 2, 2009 on a variety of issues related to smart grid technology. There are five general topics and multiple questions under each topic. The general topics include

1) suitability of communications technologies;
2) availability of communications networks;
3) spectrum;
4) real-time data; and
5) home area networks

Summary of NIST Interoperability Roadmap

This Information Bulletin provides a summary of the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) which impact UTC’s members. Specifically, the summary focuses on those provisions that are related to smart grid and commercial broadband/wireless.