Page 14 - Smart Metering Handbook

S TA N D A R D S
AND INTEROPERABILITY

The decision to invest in smart metering means that an energy company
is replacing its entire meter park within a short period of time. To reduce
business and technology risks, energy companies look for interoperability
in their systems. The Smart Meter Coordination Group in the EU that acts
on the M/441 mandate defines interoperability as the ‘ability of a system to
exchange data with other systems of different types and/or from different
manufacturers’.
The Smart Metering Coordination Group combines the forces of Euro-
pean Standardization Organizations (ESOs), CEN, CENELEC and ETSI
with the industry and utility stakeholders to coordinate the development of
European standards. Today, a comprehensive set of standards for smart
metering is available. Standards are a necessary pre-condition for interop-
erability, but standards alone are not sufficient. To ensure interoperability,
companion specifications – in addition to the standards - are needed. The
companion specification is a commitment to a specific standard defining
the dedicated configuration of the options offered by that standard.

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