Last month, Landis+Gyr joined 16 other members of the GridWise Alliance in Washington, D.C. to showcase new technology and bring awareness to grid modernization requirements. The Congressional Grid Innovation Expo, held in the Rayburn Office Building, was co-sponsored by NEMA. The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) represents over 300 electrical equipment and medical imaging manufacturers that make safe, reliable, and efficient products and systems. The Expo was well received by the 300 attendees from the industry, Congressional staff as well as representatives from the Department of Energy and Department of Trade.
U.S. Representatives Robert Latta (republicans) and Marilyn Strickland (democrats), co-chairs of the bipartisan Grid Innovation Caucus, kicked off the conference by reinforcing the critical need for grid modernization.
“Having a modernized grid is a public safety issue,” Strickland urged. “Having a modernized grid is a national security issue. Having a modernized grid allows us to transition to a clean energy future where we have the infrastructure to charge cars, charge buses and do all of the things we want to do.”
“We need to generate and distribute more power in this country,” Latta added. “The companies here today, the industry voices of NEMA and GridWise along with the work of my Co-Chair Rep. Strickland and our bipartisan caucus are going to be crucial to the success of how we modernize our grid.”
Cybersecurity is at the heart of grid modernization
Throughout the event, the team shared the role of the Landis+Gyr family of brands as an essential distribution technology provider – including Rhebo for OT grid cybersecurity, Etrel for e-charging infrastructure and Luna for grid edge technology. Talking to several attending legislators they were able to reinforce Landis+Gyr’s impact in a utility's grid modernization journey, emphasizing the role the company’s communications backbone plays to enable other reliability-focused technologies.
The Landis+Gyr showcase featured technology from the transmission grid down to home energy management enabled by smart apps, and highlighted the need for end-to-end cybersecurity to ensure reliable energy distribution as part of the national security strategy.
The topic of cybersecurity was a top priority for participants, and there was broad consensus that the smart grid must be both safe and secure. Landis+Gyr presented its smart grid cybersecurity offering covering the entire spectrum end-to-end from the OT networks to the Head-End systems to the IoT grid edge of smart meters and e-charger systems.
To wrap the conference, Rep. Latta reminded the audience that: "We have to make sure we're getting it right, not only on the legislative side, but also on the regulatory side." Additionally, he encouraged discussions with grid innovators. Rhebo and the team are excited to continue the conversation as we build a brighter energy future together.
