While California continues to invest in “smart grid” technology, in order to allow California’s grid to “talk” to the transmission grid in other states, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is developing a national grid language and cohesive standards for infrastructure and interoperability. Federal regulators expect to have the standards for consideration “late this summer,” said FERC chair Jon Wellinghoff July 16. “The message today is that we’re ready, but it’s quite a long process,” said Ray Palmer, FERC Office of Energy Market Regulations analyst. For instance, electric vehicle charging may take a separate outlet from the one now common in households, as well as a separate cable, noted Palmer. There is new infrastructure being developed that could meld those disparate physical outlets into one, he added. Smart grid interoperability takes cooperation between all 50 states’ regulators, added commissioner Cheryl LaFleur. A lack of cooperation may worsen a national grid’s ability to deliver electricity, noted commissioners. LaFleur and other commissioners noted that a smart grid offers consumers the opportunity to take advantage of “dynamic” (time-of-use) pricing to smooth the way for electrons to reach their destinations efficiently. Yet, in California, which is ahead of most states in implementing a smart grid, dynamic pricing is still years away, according to state regulators. Federal regulators also declared, in a non-public decision, that FERC, not the California Public Utilities Commission, has exclusive jurisdiction to regulate the price of sales for resale in interstate commerce. The move apparently limits the state commission’s power to setting avoided cost rates for non-utility generators, or “qualifying facilities.”