On October 7 2010 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in USA issued a press release stating the they will soon issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) involving five groups of smart grid standards "identified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as ready for consideration" in implementing the Smart Grid vision for interoperability and cyber security. The CIM standards are at the top of the list of those standards considered essential. Although not explicity stated, the FERC announcement does state that "FERC may consider requiring compliance with these standards under its Federal Power Act authorities."