Standard Data Exchanges for Distribution System Management

The databases and software tools developed for the electrical distribution system do not interoperate. As a result, electric utilities incur a number of problems: increased costs for training and database maintenance; delays in completing engineering studies and other functions; and, often, a decreased quality of output from software systems. For software providers, this situation leads to market entry barriers and a reluctance by utilities to quickly adopt new algorithms and methods. This project will develop a set of two-way, data translation modules that can be used by software vendors, university researchers, and other parties to support the interoperability of their software systems. In Phase I, an open source Web site will be developed and populated with test data, including a mechanism for public feedback. The first few data translation modules will be written using XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) Web technology. More complicated translations, for real-time performance and for broad commercial application, will be developed for Phase II. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The technology should allow utilities to choose a variety of software tools, selecting the best one for each function, and assure that there will be interoperability among the tools. The end result would be a reduction in cost and/or improvement in reliability for utilities and their customers. Researchers would have better access to utility data, which could lead to the faster adoption of new algorithms.