Ownership of Data and the Need for Information Exchange

This paper addresses the data ownership and information exchange issues as they relate to operating the power system in the new, restructured environment. The power system liberalization, privatization and deregulation have introduced a new view regarding data ownership. This may now be different from the situation seen in the past where all the entities of the power system (generation, transmission, distribution, and customer services) were under the same “jurisdiction”. In the new environment, the data may be owned by the entities that are now independent, and the need for information exchange becomes pretty important. The paper primarily discusses the experience in the USA, but the conclusions may be extended to other countries (regions) and different utility practices as well.