Energy price protection system and method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system for providing a plurality of users participating in an energy price protection plan with e-commerce and transaction capabilities, said system comprising:
- a processor; and
a memory operatively connected to said processor, wherein said processor is operative with control instructions in said memory to perform the steps of;
receiving an account identifier associated with each user;
receiving, from each user, an anticipated geographic area associated with energy purchases;
storing said received anticipated geographic areas in association with each respective account identifier in said memory;
providing each user the calculated payment, wherein each respective payment is calculated by said processor based at least in part upon one of a first program price associated with each user and a second program price associated with each user as well as upon said market reference price, wherein the first program price for each user is independent of the first program price for each other user and the second program price for each user is independent of the second program price for each other user; and
wherein each payment for each user is calculated by said processor based at least in part upon the first program price for that user when the geographic location of the automotive fuel purchase corresponds to said anticipated geographic area associated with energy purchases for that user and each payment for each user is calculated by said processor based at least in part upon the second program price for that user when the geographic location of the energy purchase does not correspond to said anticipated geographic area associated with energy purchases for that user.
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Abstract
Protection is provided against increases in the price of energy. As an example, the protection may be provided for an agreed in advance quantity of energy and/or for an agreed in advance duration.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A system for providing a plurality of users participating in an energy price protection plan with e-commerce and transaction capabilities, said system comprising:
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a processor; and a memory operatively connected to said processor, wherein said processor is operative with control instructions in said memory to perform the steps of; receiving an account identifier associated with each user; receiving, from each user, an anticipated geographic area associated with energy purchases; storing said received anticipated geographic areas in association with each respective account identifier in said memory; providing each user the calculated payment, wherein each respective payment is calculated by said processor based at least in part upon one of a first program price associated with each user and a second program price associated with each user as well as upon said market reference price, wherein the first program price for each user is independent of the first program price for each other user and the second program price for each user is independent of the second program price for each other user; and
wherein each payment for each user is calculated by said processor based at least in part upon the first program price for that user when the geographic location of the automotive fuel purchase corresponds to said anticipated geographic area associated with energy purchases for that user and each payment for each user is calculated by said processor based at least in part upon the second program price for that user when the geographic location of the energy purchase does not correspond to said anticipated geographic area associated with energy purchases for that user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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- 6. A method of providing quantitative value to a consumer in a consumer transaction, comprising providing energy price protection for a quantity of energy purchased over a time period, including providing payment to the consumer based on the difference between a first value of an established energy price and a second value related to the actual price of the energy quantity if the second value exceeds the first value.
- 8. A method of providing energy price protection comprises guaranteeing each consumer that subscribes to an energy price protection monitoring system that the effective cost per unit of energy over a given time period will not exceed a predetermined price.
- 11. A method of providing vehicle fuel-related price protection, comprising acquiring financial instruments to acquire a fuel product at future times, based at least in part on the cost to acquire such financial instruments, on the anticipated value of such financial instruments during a first prescribed time frame, and on the anticipated average price of vehicle fuel during a second time frame, determining a commercially valuable price at which to sell fuel price protection for a quantity of fuel to provide payment to a consumer, customer or their designee based on the difference between a first value of an established fuel price and a second value related to the actual price of the fuel quantity if the second value exceeds the first value.
Specification