Cloaking Resource Operations Data in the Cloud

Fascinating play.  How this differ from methods like blockchains?  Maybe better than BC methods?

Creating a Cloak for Grid Data in the Cloud   By Argonne National Laboratory 

Delivering modern electricity is a numbers game. From power plant output to consumer usage patterns, grid operators juggle a complex set of variables to keep the lights on. Cloud-based tools can help manage all of these data, but utility owners and system operators are concerned about security. That concern is keeping them from using the cloud—a collective name for networked Internet computers that provide scalable, flexible, and economical computing power.

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory are developing and deploying tools to facilitate cloud computing for grid operations and planning. A framework being developed at Argonne masks sensitive data, allowing grid operators to perform complex calculations in the cloud to determine where and when to dispatch resources. By facilitating these calculations without compromising data security and integrity, the framework helps grid operators take the electricity system into the future while avoiding costly investments in computer infrastructure. ... "