System and method of controlling delivery and/or usage of a commodity
First Claim
1. A method for managing demand for a commodity provided by a utility, the utility delivering the commodity to at least one customer site, the customer site having a plurality of devices which use the commodity, including the steps of:
- providing a plurality of nodes, each node being associated with each device;
defining a program having a subset of the plurality of devices for which usage of the commodity may be managed by activating the program;
measuring, by the associated nodes, the instantaneous rate at which the commodity is being delivered to the subset of the devices;
activating the program and responsively managing usage of the commodity to the subset of devices via the nodes in accordance with the program;
determining an actual consumption of the commodity at the at least one customer site during activation of the program.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method manage delivery of energy from a distribution network to one or more sites. Each site has at least one device couple to the distribution network. The at least one device controllably consumes energy. The system includes a node and a control system. The node is coupled to the at least one device for sensing and controlling energy delivered to the device. A control system is coupled to the node and distribution network for delivering to the node at least one characteristic of the distribution network. The node for controls the supply of energy to the device as a function of the at least one characteristic.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A method for managing demand for a commodity provided by a utility, the utility delivering the commodity to at least one customer site, the customer site having a plurality of devices which use the commodity, including the steps of:
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providing a plurality of nodes, each node being associated with each device;
defining a program having a subset of the plurality of devices for which usage of the commodity may be managed by activating the program;
measuring, by the associated nodes, the instantaneous rate at which the commodity is being delivered to the subset of the devices;
activating the program and responsively managing usage of the commodity to the subset of devices via the nodes in accordance with the program;
determining an actual consumption of the commodity at the at least one customer site during activation of the program. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A system for managing demand for a commodity provided by a utility, the energy provider delivering the commodity to at least one customer site, the customer site having a plurality of devices which use the commodity, comprising:
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a utility interface, operable by a user, for defining a program having a subset of the plurality of devices for which usage of the commodity may be managed by activating the program;
a distribution network for delivering the commodity to the subset of devices;
a plurality of nodes, each node associated with a respective device; and
,a control system coupled to the utility interface, the distribution network, and the nodes, for controlling delivery of the commodity during activation of the program via the nodes, and determining, in real time, an actual consumption of the commodity at the least one customer site, during activation of the program. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification