Balancing Cybersecurity Programs and Innovation: Tradeoffs in Standards Development for NextGeneration Battery Energy Storage Systems

All stakeholders share the goal of securing nextgeneration battery energy storage systems (BESS), yet differing approaches can create unintended vulnerabilities. This paper examines two prevailing models: vendor-led security and ownerled security. We show how these models introduce design complexities that may undermine system security controls. If vendors build flexibility to readily disable security controls, installers (such as in smaller scale commercial systems) may opt to disable these features for ease of commissioning and cause security risks across their installed fleets, particularly in instances here owners may lack a strong cybersecurity program. To mitigate these risks, we recommend a flexible cybersecurity product strategy with a strict device management solution that imposes restrictions on disabling security features and empowers owners to integrate BESS with their operational cybersecurity programs.