Staff Directory

Grant Gilchrist

Principal Consultant
  • Year joined firm: 2005
  • Industry years: 18
  • Education: Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Electronic Information Systems Engineering from the University of Regina
  • Expertise: utility data communications, Internet protocols, OSI, information security, SCADA, DNP, IEC 61850, substation automation, advanced metering infrastructure
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Grant is a recognized expert in data communications for the electric power industry, particularly in areas relating to Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), Internet protocols, OSI, security, and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) applications. His experience includes the design and development of embedded real-time software, the management of software projects, applications and tool development, and over a decade of involvement in utility standards development for the IEC, IEEE, Standards Council of Canada, and the DNP Technical Committee.

Grant came to EnerNex from GE Energy Services, where he was heavily involved in the development of the EPRI IntelliGrid Architecture as well as the EPRI Utility Communications Architecture. As a member of several IEC working groups, he has been actively involved in the development of the IEC 61850 series of utility communications standards, and a key contributor to the rollout and deployment of IEC 60870-5 protocols. Most recently, Grant has been active in helping several utilities and regulators develop their requirements for Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and the Smart Grid, and in the effort to provide cryptographic security for the IEC 61850, IEC 60870-5, and DNP3 protocol suites.

Grant also adds years of experience in substation automation and SCADA protocols to the EnerNex staff. He is a founding member of the DNP Technical Committee, the author of the DNP3 Subset Definitions, and contributor to IEEE 1815, the standardization of the DNP3 protocol.

Grant has extensive experience in providing training and presenting technical material.  He developed and taught a course module on Industrial Communication Protocols for Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and has presented papers, tutorials, and training courses at DistribuTECH, Western Power Distribution Automation Conference, GE Harris User’s Group, American Meter Reading Association, the SANS Security Summit, IEEE Power Engineering Society General Meeting and DNP User’s Group.  He is the author of the graphics for the NIST Smart Grid Conceptual Model.

He is a member of several working groups within IEC Technical Committee 57, the Standards Council of Canada, the IEEE Standards Association, and the DNP Technical Committee, where he served as Secretary for seven years.