Patterns and practices for CIM applications

The role of Common Information Model (CIM) in the Electric Utility industry, especially in Smart Grid, is now becoming critical. In a recent letter to FERC, NIST has identified CIM as one of the “five foundational families of standards” that are “fundamental to Smart Grid interoperability”. CIM applications range from CIM-based model exchange to CIM-based information management, in the areas of EMS, DMS, MMS and Substation Automation. This paper provides technical guidance and recommendations for designing and developing architecturally-sound CIM applications, based on authors' experience in large energy market design projects. It consists of a collection of patterns. Each pattern addresses a specific design problem in CIM application development, discusses considerations surrounding the problem, and presents a solution that balances various drivers or forces. The objective is to provide the user with a proven starting point from which robust and extensible CIM applications can be developed.