A power management architecture for an electrical power distribution system that includes multiple intelligent electronic devices ("IED's") distributed throughout the power distribution system to manage the flow and consumption of power from the system is disclosed. The IED's are linked via a network. Power management application components operate on the IED's, and inter-operate via the network to implement a power management application. The architecture provides a secure framework of hardware and software upon which such power management applications can operate to manage the distribution and consumption of electrical power by one or more utilities/suppliers and/or customers which provide and utilize the power distribution system. In particular, each IED is capable of establishing multiple encryption keys that confer different access rights on the IED. The encryption keys affect access to commands that the IED receives and restricts access to communications that the IED sends out over the network.