The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), a national nonprofit building the foundation for rapid adoption of clean energy and energy efficiency, announced that it will host Customer Grid Edge (CGE)-a committee of experts that seeks to improve interoperability between energy service providers and customer-sited equipment including renewable energy, energy storage, and microgrids.

CGE was founded in 2008 by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (part of the U.S. Department of Commerce) and the GridWise ® Architecture Council (appointed by the U.S. Department of Energy) to address issues at the interface between smart grids and customers. CGE specializes in smart grids and energy management for appliances and electric vehicles, with a focus on customerand community-sited renewable energy and energy storage. It has been active in proposing U.S. and international electric grid standards and developing educational resources for residential and commercial grid customers.

"For over ten years, Customer Grid Edge has been doing important work to make distributed renewable energy and energy storage more accessible through standardization and education," said Larry Sherwood, IREC President and CEO. "CGE's work aligns with IREC's vision of a 100% clean energy future that is reliable, resilient, and equitable, and we look forward to collaborating in ways that strengthen the impact of both groups."

"IREC has decades of experience working with regulators and clean energy companies to make affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy possible. IREC offers the ideal environment to implement the CGE proposals that facilitate a transition to renewables," said Dr. Kenneth Wacks, Chair of CGE. "I am excited about the benefits that IREC and CGE can offer to the public for stable and clean energy." IREC will provide an institutional home for CGE, facilitating its monthly meetings and providing strategic and logistical support for its activities. CGE will help keep IREC apprised of emerging issues related to customer-sited clean energy and smart grid technologies.

CGE is composed of about 170 members that include public utility and energy service providers, developers of distributed energy resources (DERs), equipment suppliers and communication companies, and smart grid researchers. CGE contributes to international standards by providing recommendations on issues such as cybersecurity and solar-plus-storage for the ISO/IEC Home Electronic System (HES) committee developing Internet of Things (IoT)-related standards for homes and buildings.

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