Coopersburg, PA (October 12, 2010) — Light control manufacturer Lutron Electronics Co., Inc., announces its collaboration with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to develop standards for the national Smart Grid effort.

The standards are being developed by ASHRAE and NEMA providing a common basis for electrical energy consumers to describe, manage, and communicate electrical energy consumption and forecasts. ASHRAE is an international technical society organized to advance the art and science of heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration and NEMA is the trade association of choice for the association of electrical and medical imaging equipment manufacturers. This standard - ASHRAE/NEMA Standard 201P, Facility Smart Grid Information Model - is one of the ways ANSI members are supporting the efforts of the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel, which provides technical support to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST is a public-private partnership that aims to speed the development of interoperability and cyber-security standards that will support a nationwide smart electric power grid.

According to ASHRAE, ASHRAE/NEMA Standard 201P, Facility Smart Grid Information Model will define an object-oriented information model to enable appliances and control systems in homes, buildings and industrial facilities to manage electrical loads and generation sources in response to communication with a "smart" electrical grid and to communicate information about those electrical loads to utility and other electrical service providers.

“Lutron is proud to be a member of ANSI and to participate in the development of this new standard which helps management electrical consumption in a home or building and will further allow efficiencies in peak demand situations,” said Ian Rowbottom, Director of Smart Grid Solutions at Lutron. “The management of lighting energy loads throughout a home or building is essential in the nationwide Smart Grid.”

Work on the standards began with the kickoff meeting that took place August 30-31, 2010 at ASHRAE headquarters in Atlanta, Ga.