The IEEE announced the availability of the IEEE C37.239 standard, which defines a Common Format for Event Data Exchange (COMFEDE) among power systems. By helping utilities efficiently integrate and analyze event data from across multi-vendor equipment, the interoperability standard is designed to contribute to improving the reliability of the Smart Grid.
Traditionally, the event data collected in transmission, generation, distribution and utilization of electrical energy have been in widely disparate, proprietary formats. IEEE C37.239 defines an easily interpretable, XML-based format for files containing event data, such as sequence of events or fault-summary reports collected from these power systems. This standardized format enables the seamless exchange of such data among operators, relay technicians and maintenance personnel. Additionally, users of one proprietary system can integrate their data with that from other systems.