IEEE Standard 1547, which defines interconnection requirements for distributed energy resources (DER), has been undergoing a major revision since 2014. The initial version of this standard was adopted in 2003, prior to the present surge of DER penetration into the grid and major changes in DER technology and economics.

The significant growth in DER interconnection applications has substantial impact on utilities, the reliability of the grid, and the quality of electric service to other utility customers. IEEE's standard 1547 is intended to mitigate many of these DER impacts by defining how DER devices are designed and tested, and how DER will be integrated into the power system.

This standard is very important to America's Electric Cooperatives and several were involved in the recent 2017 balloting process to provide input into the considered changes.

The following TechSurveillance article series was published in advance of the balloting process to help co-ops understand the proposed changes and why they were being made, to determine if they felt the proposed changes were acceptable or not and why.

The following advisory recaps the resulting updates and changes to the standard, published as IEEE 1547-2018, and the impact on cooperatives.

ARTICLE SERIES ON IEEE 1547 BALLOTING PROCESS:

• Part 1: Revision of IEEE Standard 1547 - The Background for Change
  
• Part 2: IEEE 1547 Relevant to Reactive Power and Voltage Regulation
• Part 3: IEEE 1547 Relevant to Disturbance Performance
• Part 4: IEEE 1547 Relevant to Additional Issues Including Power Quality

ADVISORY ON THE RESULTING IEEE 1547-2018 STANDARD:

• IEEE 1547-2018: Standard for Interconnection of DER