ABSTRACT
A simplifying factor in addressing the smart grid standards and technology problem is to find a manner to decompose the interconnected power system and its underlying standards and technologies into coherent parts that allow targeted research to be applied, while exposing the barriers that have precluded solution development. One of the biggest challenges facing utilities wishing to implement integrated smart grid applications is that the integrated applications force previously isolated organizations to communicate with each other and perhaps merge. The SyC Smart Energy cybersecurity guidelines provide additional understandings and references to the key cybersecurity standards for the power industry. A differentiator between user groups, alliances, and formal standardization organizations is that user group formulation and participants emphasize the challenges of actually implementing standards and specifications. Standards attempt to meet the goal of creating a basic understanding of how to use a technology in a common manner.
