Smart Grid Initiatives and Government Intervension World Wide

I’m trying to link Smart Grid Initiatives “large and small” worldwide with global trends of government intervention, mandated compliance, and regulatory frameworks within the concept of “Critical Infrastructure Protection” CIP. In other words, is the world in general leaning towards mandated compliance ? or are we still seeing a fight back in favor of industry self compliance?.

I began by looking at the Smart Meters Projects Map (Created by the Energy Retail Association – UK). I noticed the following:

Smart Meter Projects World Wide

– About 32 Countries in Total announced Smart Metering Projects as of 2009 “See Map”, 24 (75% of the total number) reportedly have or are working on CIP programs “with different Maturity levels”.

– I evaluated what’s publicly available on the CIP programs within those 24 countries against the “ International CIIP Handbook“. and mapped the CIP programs against More or Less government Intervention.

Government CIP Involvement

Conclusion:
– It’s clear that we are going towards state mandated compliance with the majority starting off from column D ” Government is a consultant” towards Column B “Government Clearly mandates clear and Precise CIP Standards“. Except for the United States which starts from Column E “Industry Self Regulation“.
– Although enjoying the strongest momentum, the US might not be the perfect model for the rest of the world, the US road map is certainly different.
– This Blog Visitors map “see top right” show exactly the same 24 countries.

Note: The “Gov/CIP involvement” Diagram is Based on the article “Models of CIIP” by Dan Assaf. Published in elsavier’s “International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection” Volume 1. 2008