Industry Vocabulary Reference

Energy & Utilities

Comprehensive enumeration library for the Energy & Utilities vertical. Covers every subdomain where agentic AI is actively deployed as of March 2026: IEC CIM 61968/61970 grid asset and outage management, NERC CIP v7 critical infrastructure protection compliance, OpenADR 2.0b demand response event orchestration, energy market operations and wholesale settlement (FERC, ENTSO-E), renewable energy and distributed energy resource (DER) management (FERC Order 2222), battery storage and virtual power plant dispatch, predictive maintenance and grid condition monitoring, water and wastewater operations, oil and gas pipeline integrity management, and environmental and emissions compliance (EU ETS, EPA Clean Air Act). Designed for use as OTel span attributes in an agentic AI SDK and as policy vocabulary in an OPA Rego GRC portal.

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How to use this reference

1. Start with the core file if you need the cross-industry governance baseline.
2. Then move into the vertical file to see the regulated workflow vocabulary, policy surfaces, and implementation pressure unique to this market.
3. Use the OTel attributes and policy paths here as the common language across SDK instrumentation, governance review, and evidence export.

March 2026 deployment context

As of March 2026, agentic AI in energy and utilities is deployed across: autonomous grid state estimation and topology optimisation (IEC CIM 61970 integration via EMS APIs), AI-driven demand response orchestration replacing manual DR programme management (OpenADR 2.0b), DER aggregation and virtual power plant (VPP) dispatch agents (FERC Order 2222 compliance), predictive maintenance for generation and transmission assets (reducing forced outage rates), AI-powered energy trading and settlement optimisation (FERC/ENTSO-E market rules), NERC CIP compliance monitoring agents automating evidence collection and gap detection, renewable energy forecasting and curtailment optimisation, pipeline integrity management AI (inline inspection data analysis, anomaly detection), water and wastewater process optimisation agents, and emissions monitoring and ETS compliance automation. The EU AI Act does not explicitly list energy grid management as Annex III high-risk AI, but the EU NIS2 Directive (2022/2555) classifies energy as an essential sector — grid management AI systems are subject to NIS2 security and incident reporting obligations. NERC CIP v7 directly constrains AI system deployment on Bulk Electric System (BES) Cyber Systems — AI agents operating on or near BES assets must meet CIP-005 electronic security perimeter and CIP-007 system security requirements.

Risk note: NERC CIP v7 creates direct regulatory exposure for AI systems connected to or interacting with BES Cyber Systems (BCS). A BCS is any programmable device that, if compromised, could adversely impact the reliable operation of the Bulk Electric System. AI agents performing autonomous topology changes, protection relay configuration, or EMS setpoint modifications on high or medium impact BCS assets require documented change management (CIP-010) and vendor supply chain risk management (CIP-013). FERC Order 3052 (2024) creates cybersecurity investment incentives tied to NERC CIP compliance — AI security monitoring systems are eligible for incentive rate treatment. EU ETS Phase 4 (2021-2030) requires continuous emissions monitoring with verified data — AI-driven CEMS (Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems) must maintain EPA 40 CFR Part 75 / EU MRR data quality standards or face allowance invalidation.

Loading Model

• Mirrored file: 08_vertical_energy_utilities.json
• Kind: vertical

OTel Namespaces

Primary Standards

• IEC 61968 — Application Integration at Electric Utilities — System Interfaces for Distribution Management
• IEC 61970 — Energy Management System Application Program Interface (EMS-API) — Common Information Model (CIM)
• IEC 61850 — Communication Networks and Systems for Power Utility Automation
• IEC 61400-25 — Wind Turbines — Communications for Monitoring and Control
• IEC 62351 — Power Systems Management and Associated Information Exchange — Data and Communications Security
• NERC CIP v7 — Critical Infrastructure Protection Standards (CIP-002 through CIP-014)
• NERC FAC-001/FAC-002 — Facility Connection and Planning Standards
• NERC EOP-004 — Event Reporting
• OpenADR 2.0b — Open Automated Demand Response (OpenADR Alliance)
• IEEE 1547-2018 — Standard for Interconnection and Interoperability of DERs with Electric Power Systems
• FERC Order 2222 — Participation of Distributed Energy Resource Aggregations in Organized Energy Markets (2020)
• FERC Order 881 — Managing Transmission Line Ratings (2021)
• FERC Order 3052 — Cybersecurity Incentives (2024)
• ENTSO-E Network Codes — EU transmission network operational standards
• EU Electricity Directive 2019/944 — Internal market for electricity
• EU Renewable Energy Directive III (RED III) 2023/2413 — 42.5% renewable target by 2030
• EU ETS (Emissions Trading System) — EU Allowance Registry under EU ETS Directive 2003/87/EC (as amended)
• EPA 40 CFR Part 75 — Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems (CEMS)
• EPA Clean Power Plan / Good Neighbor Rule (2024 revisions)
• API RP 1173 — Pipeline Safety Management Systems
• PHMSA 49 CFR Part 192/195 — Pipeline Safety Regulations
• AWWA Cybersecurity Guidance — Water sector OT security
• EPA EPCRA Section 313 — Toxic Release Inventory reporting

Source URLs

• https://cimug.ucaiug.org/
• https://www.nerc.com/pa/Stand/Pages/CIPStandards.aspx
• https://www.openadr.org/
• https://www.ferc.gov/
• https://www.entsoe.eu/network_codes/
• https://www.epa.gov/airmarkets
• https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/pipeline

Subdomains

Implementation examples

• Grid Asset & Outage Management (IEC CIM): Grid Asset Operational Status. AI energy management agent monitors all BES asset statuses via CIM. 'Forced_outage' on a high-impact asset triggers automatic NERC EOP-004 assessment, initiates restoration workflow, and escalates to grid operations HITL. AI agent may not autonomously re-energise a 'de_energized' asset — crew clearance confirmation required. (Nerc Eop 004: NERC EOP-004 — Disturbance reporting: 'forced_outage' on BES elements meeting reporting thresholds must be reported to NERC and regional entity)
• Grid Asset & Outage Management (IEC CIM): Switching Equipment State. AI distribution management agent executes fault isolation switching sequences. Each switching step is logged with the pre- and post-state. OPA policy blocks AI from closing a 'grounded' switch — crew clearance confirmation from safety system is required first. (Nerc Cip 010: NERC CIP-010 — Configuration change management: autonomous AI switching on BES Cyber Systems requires approved change documentation)
• Grid Asset & Outage Management (IEC CIM): Outage Lifecycle State. AI outage management agent receives outage reports from AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure), customer calls, and SCADA alarms. Agent correlates reports, confirms outage boundary, and dispatches crew. OPA policy enforces that 'fully_restored' state requires meter-verified restoration confirmation — not just switch state change.
• Grid Asset & Outage Management (IEC CIM): Protection Relay Operation Status. AI grid monitoring agent detects relay operation from SCADA and classifies status. 'Reclose_failed_lockout' triggers immediate crew dispatch. 'Protection_inhibited_ai_action' is a critical flag indicating an AI agent has interfered with protection — requires immediate HITL escalation and is a NERC compliance event. (Nerc Prc 023: NERC PRC-023 — Transmission relay loadability: relay settings affected by AI optimisation must comply with NERC PRC-023 loadability criteria)

Illustrative policy patterns

package energy.grid_operations

state_change_requires_hitl := {
  "closed", "open", "grounded", "locked_open", "locked_closed"
}

bes_impact_requires_hitl := {"high_impact", "medium_impact"}

deny[msg] {
  input.target_switching_state in state_change_requires_hitl
  input.energy_nerc_cip_bcs_impact_level in bes_impact_requires_hitl
  not input.system_operator_hitl_authorised == true
  msg := sprintf("NERC CIP-010: Autonomous switching of BES asset '%v' to state '%v' requires system operator HITL authorisation. Impact level: '%v'.", [input.asset_id, input.target_switching_state, input.energy_nerc_cip_bcs_impact_level])
}

package energy.nerc_compliance

auditable_actions := {
  "configuration_change", "patch_deployment", "access_grant",
  "access_revoke", "remote_access_session", "log_review",
  "vulnerability_scan", "vendor_access_granted"
}

denied_without_evidence := {"high_impact", "medium_impact"}

deny[msg] {
  input.action_type in auditable_actions
  input.energy_nerc_cip_bcs_impact_level in denied_without_evidence
  not input.cip_evidence_record_generated == true

From enum to evidence

The same vocabulary should carry from instrumentation through review. The OTel attribute names here become emitted metadata, those attributes become policy inputs, and those same labels should still be intelligible when a reviewer opens the decision record later.

import { VeriproofClient, VeriproofSdkOptions, SessionMetadata } from '@veriproof/sdk-core';
import { GridAssetOperationalStatus, GridAssetOperationalStatusMeta, SwitchingEquipmentState, SwitchingEquipmentStateMeta, OutageLifecycleState, OutageLifecycleStateMeta } from '@veriproof/sdk-core/verticals/energy-utilities';

const client = new VeriproofClient(
  VeriproofSdkOptions.createProduction({
    apiKey: process.env.VERIPROOF_API_KEY!,
    applicationId: 'energy-utilities-production',
  }),
);

const session = client
  .startSession('energy-utilities.review')
  .withSessionMetadata(SessionMetadata.forTransaction('txn-1001').withEnvironment('production'))
  .addStep('evaluate_workflow', { output: { status: 'completed' } })
  .withMetadata(GridAssetOperationalStatusMeta.otelAttribute, GridAssetOperationalStatus.in_service)
  .withMetadata(SwitchingEquipmentStateMeta.otelAttribute, SwitchingEquipmentState.closed)
  .withMetadata(OutageLifecycleStateMeta.otelAttribute, OutageLifecycleState.reported)

await session.complete();

• SDK: emit the OTel attribute shown on this page during the decision workflow.
• Policy: reference the matching `opa_policy_path` in governance rules.
• Evidence: surface the same label and value in the portal and exported record so reviewers are not translating between systems.

For a step-by-step getting-started walkthrough specific to this vertical, open the Energy & Utilities SDK quick start. For the full core API reference, continue with TypeScript, Python, or .NET.

Highlighted Enum Categories

This reference page is rendered from the mirrored JSON file inside the docs app, not from a hand-written website model.

If you need the machine-readable asset for offline review, automation, or internal diffing, use the mirrored JSON download above.

Next: open the corresponding SDK reference under SDK documentation and then compare it with the public-site industry page to see how the same vocabulary is framed commercially.