Systems for real-time analysis and reporting of utility usage and spend

• US 10,460,361 B2
• Filed: 09/08/2017
• Issued: 10/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mountain Vector Energy, LLC
• Original Assignee: Mountain Vector Energy, LLC
• Inventors: Kiziuk, Steve R., Pitt, Robert Bruce, Mankey, Paige A., Lamb, Madeline Rae
• Primary Examiner(s): Flynn, Kevin H
• Assistant Examiner(s): El-Bathy, Ibrahim N
• Application Number:
  US15/748,591
• Publication Number:
  US 20180247348A1
• Time in Patent Office: 781 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/145 Payments according to the detected use or quantity
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1414 in real-time
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1428 Invoice generation, e.g. customization, lay-out, database processing, algorithms for calculating the bill or formatting invoices as WWW pages invoicing in general G06Q30/04

Abstract

Presented are methods and systems to universally assess composite utility consumption (1) in which a plurality of real-time and batch sensor readings such as from multiple disparate utility sensor data inputs (3) may be acquired and stored such as into a local device (2) or a central data warehouse (6). A composite utility estimated cost generator (9) can generate missing or uncorrelated data and a collected composite utility data information correlator (11) can correlate the data so it can be applied to determine some type of composite utility cost information. For real-time calculation, a disparate utility rate information accessor (8) can obtain multiple items of disparate rate information and this can use with correlated data to create a composite utility consumption and spend so a user can manage and control utility usage for a home, building, facility, plant, specific equipment, or the like. Cost information, such as a rate of spend or spend amount(s) to date or for a period may be presented to user in a variety of visualizations and reporting formats including specific time usage and spend information, specific time range usage and spend, and “time-of-use” billing information for specific real-time data points. The visualization and reporting may be used to answer a plurality of usage questions along with specific characterizations of utility spend across time of day domains and specific equipment usage domains thus affording more effective utility cost management.

Claims

1. A system to universally assess composite utility consumption comprising:

at least one utility-provided sensor that provides direct information on consumption of at least one particular consumption type;

multiple disparate utility data inputs, each specific to sense consumption of a particular commodity type;

at least one utility-provider independent redundant sensor that provides utility-provider-independent sensed utility data that is redundant as to said utility-provided sensor and that provides direct information on consumption of at least one particular commodity type as part of a local device;

a utility data input consumption sensor cross check responsive to said at least one utility-provider independent redundant sensor that provides utility-provider-independent sensed utility data that is redundant as to said utility-provided sensor and that provides direct information on consumption of at least one particular commodity type as part of a local device for at least one utility data input and responsive to at least one of said multiple disparate utility data inputs;

an automatic cross check alert that alerts a user if desired in response to said utility data input consumption sensor cross check that acts in response to said at least one utility-provider independent redundant sensor that provides utility-provider-independent sensed utility data for at least one utility data input to inform a user if existing utility-provided sensor information does not match said utility-provided independent redundant sensor information;

a local, on-site collected utility use information storage responsive to each of said multiple disparate utility data inputs;

a collected composite utility data information time correlator that correlates information from at least one of said multiple disparate utility data inputs to at least one of the other of said multiple disparate utility data inputs;

a collected composite utility data information data-frequency correlator having a new frequency-approximate data generation capability specifically configured to act automatically through processor programming that is configured to act in a way that generates missing utility sensor data for consumption of a particular commodity type to create a new data frequency that makes sensor data correspond even if data intervals are different, and that is not provided by at least one of said multiple disparate utility data inputs, and that is specifically configured in a way that accomplishes data-frequency correlation among the different sensors by generating approximate data for consumption of a particular commodity type in a way that accounts for differing sensor collection intervals so periods in between such data points are similar even among multiple disparate utility sensor data inputs having otherwise different utility data collection intervals, and wherein said collected composite utility data information data-frequency correlator is responsive to each of said multiple disparate utility data inputs;

a data approximation utility estimated cost generator responsive to said collected composite utility data information data-frequency correlator;

a superset format transformer that is specifically configured to act automatically through processor programming configured to act in a way that creates a standard formatted composite utility data in an output that includes consumption information, consumption units, and time of measurement information, and wherein said superset format transformer is responsive to said local, on-site collected utility use information storage, and wherein said superset format transformer that is specifically configured to act automatically through processor programming is also specifically configured to act in a way that provides said output in a format selected from a group consisting of;

a comma separated value format, a tab-delimited format, an MS-XLS binary file format, an MS-XLSX binary file format, a delimiter separated format, a tab separated value format, and an open standard file data format, and wherein said superset format transformer is configured to act automatically through processor programming to automatically normalize said standard formatted composite utility data;

a composite utility cost indication storage responsive to said superset format transformer;

an automatic utility rate information locator;

a multiple access capability, disparate utility rate information acquisition capability that has a plurality of active capabilities, each corresponding to one of said multiple disparate utility data inputs and that is responsive to said automatic utility rate information locator;

a disparate utility rate information data storage responsive to said multiple access capability, disparate utility rate information acquisition capability;

a user settable, data frequency selector that is specifically configured to instruct processor programming to act automatically through said processor programming in a way to set a data frequency for each of said multiple disparate utility data inputs, each specific to consumption of a particular commodity type and which is specifically configured through processor programming to act automatically to re-generate approximate utility data to achieve a set desired data frequency for each sensor that senses consumption of a particular commodity type;

real-time current rate of composite utility estimated economic spend generator that provides current composite utility economic spend information across all of said multiple disparate utility data inputs and said at least one utility-provider independent redundant sensor that provides utility-provider-independent sensed utility data that is redundant as to said utility-provided sensor and that provides direct information on consumption of at least one particular commodity type as part of a local device for at least one utility data input, and in a way that generates a range totaled composite economic spend indication totaled across similar ranges for each of said multiple disparate utility data inputs and said at least one utility-provider independent redundant sensor that provides utility-provider-independent sensed utility data that is redundant as to said utility-provided sensor and that provides direct information on consumption of at least one particular commodity type as part of a local device for at least one utility data input, and that provides said real-time current rate of composite utility estimated economic spend in response to said local, on-site collected utility use information storage and said disparate utility rate information data storage and that is responsive to said user settable, data frequency selector, and that is configured through processor programming to automatically transform disparate sensor data to values that span comparable unit ranges and to automatically generate composite utility cost indications in real-time in response to all of said multiple disparate utility data inputs and said at least one utility-provider independent redundant sensor that provides utility-provider-independent sensed utility data that is redundant as to said utility-provided sensor and that provides direct information on consumption of at least one particular commodity type as part of a local device for at least one utility data input;

a visual composite utility cost display responsive to said composite utility cost indications storage; and

an historical composite utility cost comparator responsive to said composite utility cost indication storage;

wherein said multiple disparate utility data inputs are selected from a group consisting of;

a utility electrical voltage information input;

a utility electrical current information input;

a utility water flow information input;

a utility gas flow information input; and

any combination of the above, all without limiting other aspects,

and wherein each of said multiple disparate utility data inputs are provided to a unitary collection device.

2. A system to universally assess composite utility consumption as described in claim 1 and further comprising:

an abnormal cost occurrence identifier; and

an abnormal cost occurrence user notification display responsive to said abnormal cost occurrence identifier.

3. A system to universally assess composite utility consumption as described in claim 1 and further comprising a discordantly fragmented information data approximation utility estimated cost generator selected from a group consisting of:

data trend approximation utility estimated cost generator;

historical information approximation utility estimated cost generator;

any combination of the above, all without limiting other aspects,

and further comprising an estimated data indication display responsive to said discordantly fragmented information data approximation utility estimated cost generator.

4. A system to universally assess composite utility consumption as described in claim 1 wherein said multiple access capability, disparate utility rate information acquisition capability comprises a low activity utility rate information acquisition capability.

5. A system to universally assess composite utility consumption as described in claim 1 and further comprising:

a collected composite utility data information equipment monitor; and

an automatic user equipment change query responsive to said collected composite utility data information equipment monitor.

6. A system to universally assess composite utility consumption as described in claim 1 and further comprising a retroactive utility provider bill data comparator.

7. A system to universally assess composite utility consumption comprising:

multiple disparate utility sensor data inputs, each specific to sense consumption of a particular commodity type;

at least one utility-provider independent redundant sensor that provides a utility-provider-independent sensed utility data input that is redundant as to at least one of said multiple disparate utility sensor data inputs;

a local, on-site collected utility use information storage responsive to each of said multiple disparate utility sensor data inputs;

a collected composite utility data information correlator responsive to at least one of said multiple disparate utility sensor data inputs and having a new frequency approximate data generation capability specifically configured to act automatically through processor programming that is configured to act in a way that generates missing utility sensor data that is not provided by at least one of said multiple disparate utility data inputs, each specific to sense consumption of a particular commodity type to create a new data frequency that makes sensor data correspond even if data intervals are different, and that is specifically configured in a way that accomplishes data-frequency correlation by generating approximate data for consumption of a particular commodity type in a way that accounts for differing sensor collection intervals so periods in between such data points are similar even among multiple disparate utility sensor data inputs having otherwise different utility data collection intervals;

a multiple access capability, disparate utility rate information acquisition capability that has a plurality of active capabilities, each corresponding to one of said multiple disparate utility sensor data inputs;

a disparate utility rate information data storage responsive to said multiple access capability, disparate utility rate information acquisition capability;

a real-time composite utility estimated economic spend generator that provides a composite utility cost indication across all of said multiple disparate utility sensor data inputs in response to said local, on-site collected utility use information storage and said disparate utility rate information data storage and that provides real-time composite utility estimated economic spend information in a way that generates a range totaled composite economic spend indication totaled across similar ranges for each of said multiple disparate utility sensor data inputs, and that is configured through processor programming to provide said real-time composite utility estimated economic spend information in a way that automatically transforms disparate data to values that span comparable unit ranges and to automatically generate composite utility cost indications in real-time in response to all of said multiple disparate utility data inputs;

a composite utility cost indication storage responsive to said real-time composite utility estimated economic spend generator; and

a visual composite utility cost display responsive to said composite utility cost indication storage.

8. A system to universally assess composite utility consumption as described in claim 7 and further comprising a plurality of different utility type sensors each to which at least one of said multiple disparate utility sensor data inputs is responsive.

9. A system to universally assess composite utility consumption as described in claim 8 wherein said real-time composite utility estimated economic spend generator comprises a discordantly fragmented information data approximation utility estimated cost generator.

10. A system to universally assess composite utility consumption as described in claim 9 wherein said discordantly fragmented information data approximation utility estimated cost generator comprises a discordantly fragmented information data approximation utility estimated cost generator selected from a group consisting of:

data trend discordantly fragmented information data approximation utility estimated cost generator;

historical information discordantly fragmented information data approximation utility estimated cost generator;

any combination of the above, all without limiting other aspects.

11. A system to universally assess composite utility consumption as described in claim 9 and further comprising an estimated data indication display responsive to said discordantly fragmented information data approximation utility estimated cost generator.

12. A system to universally assess composite utility consumption as described in claim 7 and further comprising a collected composite utility data information equipment monitor for at least one specific item of equipment.

13. A system to universally assess composite utility consumption as described in claim 12 and further comprising an automatic user equipment change query responsive to said collected composite utility data information equipment monitor.

14. A system to universally assess composite utility consumption as described in claim 7 and further comprising an automatic composite cost indication self-check comparator responsive to at least some external information.

15. A method of universally assessing composite utility consumption comprising the steps of:

sensing, by a utility-provided sensor, consumption of at least one particular commodity type;

obtaining multiple disparate utility data inputs, each specific to sense consumption of a particular commodity type, selected from a group consisting of;

obtaining electrical voltage information for a utility and particular to consumption of an electrical commodity type;

obtaining electrical current information for a utility and particular to consumption of an electrical commodity type;

obtaining gas flow information for a utility and particular to consumption of a gas commodity type; and

obtaining water flow information for a utility and particular to consumption of a water commodity type;

redundant sensing utility data, by a utility-provider-independent sensor, for at least one utility that is redundant as to said step of utility-provided sensing and that provides direct information on consumption of at least one a particular commodity type, and to provide utility-provider-independent redundant sensed utility data for at least one utility as part of a local device for at least one utility data input;

providing said multiple disparate utility data inputs to a unitary collection device;

on-site locally collecting information from each of said multiple disparate utility data inputs-at said unitary collection device;

cross checking by a cross check computer said utility-provider-independent redundant sensed utility data for at least one utility against data obtained from at least one of said steps of obtaining electrical voltage information for a utility, obtaining electrical current information for a utility, obtaining gas flow information for a utility, and obtaining water flow information for a utility;

automatically alerting a user by a user notification computer if desired if existing utility-provided sensing does not match said utility-provided independent redundant sensed utility data as a result of said step of cross checking by said cross check computer said utility-provider-independent redundant sensed utility data for at least one utility against data obtained from at least one of said steps of obtaining electrical voltage information for a utility, obtaining electrical current information for a utility, obtaining gas flow information for a utility, and obtaining water flow information for a utility;

user setting a desired data frequency for all of said multiple disparate utility data inputs;

automatically generating by a missing data computer approximate data to achieve said desired data frequency for at least one of said multiple disparate utility data inputs in response to said user setting said desired data frequency in a way that accounts for differing sensor collection intervals so periods in between such data points are similar even among multiple disparate utility sensor data inputs having otherwise different utility data collection intervals;

automatically generating by a missing data computer missing utility sensor data relative to consumption of at least one particular commodity type by a new frequency approximate data generation capability to create a new data frequency that makes sensor data correspond even if data intervals are different and that is not provided as a result of at least one of said steps of obtaining electrical voltage information for a utility, obtaining electrical current information for a utility, obtaining gas flow information for a utility, obtaining water flow information for a utility, and utility-provider-independent sensing utility data for at least one utility;

automatically data-frequency correlating by a correlation computer the information from each of said multiple disparate utility data inputs to achieve data frequency-correlated composite utility data information through processor programming in response to said step of automatically generating missing utility sensor data relative to consumption of at least one particular commodity type to create a new data frequency that makes sensor data correspond even if data intervals are different and that is not provided as a result of at least one of said steps of obtaining electrical voltage information for a utility, obtaining electrical current information for a utility, obtaining gas flow information for a utility, obtaining water flow information for a utility, and utility-provider-independent sensing utility data for at least one utility, and said step of automatically generating approximate data to achieve said desired data frequency for at least one of said multiple disparate utility data inputs in response to said user setting said desired data frequency in a way that accounts for differing sensor collection intervals so periods in between such data points are similar even among multiple disparate utility sensor data inputs having otherwise different utility data collection intervals;

transforming by a data transformation computer information from each of said multiple disparate utility data inputs to automatically create normalized utility spend data in a superset format that includes consumption information, consumption units, and time of measurement information;

automatically determining by a rate determination computer desired utility rate information for multiple disparate utilities corresponding to each of said multiple disparate utility data inputs;

automatically selecting by a rate determination computer resource locations at which said desired utility rate information can be accessed;

downloading said desired utility rate information from said resource locations;

storing said desired utility rate information to create a collection of disparate utility rate data;

applying said disparate utility rate data to at least a portion of said data frequency-correlated composite utility data information;

automatically generating by a composite utility information computer real-time composite utility cost indications in response to all of said steps of obtaining electrical voltage information for a utility, obtaining electrical current information for a utility, obtaining gas flow information for a utility, obtaining water flow information for a utility, and utility-provider-independent sensing utility data for at least one utility;

generating by said rate determination computer at least some estimated current rate of composite utility economic spend information for said user from said steps of applying said disparate utility rate data to at least a portion of said data frequency-correlated composite utility data information and composite utility cost indications in response to all of said steps of obtaining electrical voltage information for a utility, obtaining electrical current information for a utility, obtaining gas flow information for a utility, obtaining water flow information for a utility, and utility-provider-independent sensing utility data for at least one utility;

storing information developed from said step of generating at least some estimated current rate of composite utility economic spend information for later comparison;

transforming by a data transformation computer at least some of said estimated current rate of composite utility economic spend information into an open, standardized data exchange format to create a disparate utility data, common exchange format utility data file;

exporting said disparate utility data, common exchange format utility data file for subsequent use; and

presenting said estimated current rate of composite utility economic spend information for visual display to a user by said user notification computer.

18. A method of universally assessing composite utility consumption as described in claim 15 wherein said step of downloading said desired utility rate information from said resource locations comprises the step of:

request-unnecessary acquiring utility rate information corresponding to at least one utility input.

19. A method of universally assessing composite utility consumption as described in claim 15 and further comprising the steps of:

determining by a signal processing computer likely changes in installed equipment; and

automatically querying a user by said user notification computer as a result of said step of determining likely changes in installed equipment.

20. A method of universally assessing composite utility consumption as described in claim 15 and further comprising the step of automatically self-checking by said cross check computer a composite cost indication against an external calculation of cost for a similar period by retroactively comparing a composite cost indication against a utility provider bill.

16. A method of universally assessing composite utility consumption as described in 15 and further comprising the steps of:

identifying by a user notification computer a potentially abnormal cost occurrence; and

advising by said user notification computer said user of the existence of said abnormal cost occurrence.

17. A method of universally assessing composite utility consumption as described in 15 wherein said step of automatically generating approximate data to achieve said desired data frequency for at least one of said multiple disparate utility data inputs in response to said user setting said desired data frequency comprises a step selected from a group consisting of:

applying trend information by said missing data computer to achieve a common data frequency for said multiple disparate utility inputs;

utilizing historical information by said missing data computer to achieve a common data frequency for said multiple disparate utility inputs; and

any combination of the above, all without limiting other aspects,

and further comprising the step of tagging by said user notification computer a generated data indication for user awareness when said step of automatically generating approximate data to achieve said desired data frequency for at least one of said multiple disparate utility data inputs has occurred.