Gas and Electric Steering Industry Innovations Through NAESB 2020 Publications

Abstract

The first half of 2020 has gone by in the blink of eye, yet in that short time the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) has released three publications for the wholesale gas quadrant (WGQ), wholesale electric quadrant (WEQ), and retail markets quadrant (RMQ). All three quadrant publications were drafted as a result of years of hard work and dedication from NAESB subcommittee participants—a network of approximately 300 NAESB member entities and numerous nonmember industry participants. These volunteers participate in monthly conference calls and face‐to‐face meetings, with many attendees participating several times a month, to develop industry‐driven voluntary consensus business practice standards. Most recently, these volunteers have prioritized the development of standards in response to a Sandia National Laboratories surety assessment of the NAESB standards. A Department of Energy (DoE) request to expedite the standards development process in response to the Sandia reports resulted in all three quadrants (WEQ, RMQ, and WGQ) rapidly developing new or modified cybersecurity standards within a six‐to‐seven‐month timeframe.