REAL-TIME PEAK UTILITY USAGE CHARGE ASSESSMENT METHODS
First Claim
1. A method of electricity consumption management, comprising:
- measuring power provided to a site by an energy consumption management system for an electricity consumer during a utility billing period;
calculating a peak load prevented for the electricity consumer at the site during the utility billing period;
determining a peak utility usage charge estimate for the site; and
transmitting the peak utility usage charge estimate before the end of the utility billing period.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Some embodiments are systems which calculate the amount of electric power that a peak mitigation system provides in real time and translate that information into a real-time estimate of a peak utility usage charge that appears on the utility bill of the customer. These systems may facilitate a determination of the monetary value of demand charges saved by peak mitigation and load leveling and a notification to a customer of the savings realized. Some systems described herein provide a method of billing a customer based on the electricity usage savings accumulated through demand charge reduction procedures. One embodiment monitors the mitigation of peak loads as they occur, detects and measures incremental changes in demand charge-producing peaks and updates a projection when incremental demand charge changes occur. The demand charge projection may be presented to the customer, aggregated with demand charge projections of other sites, and displayed to increase awareness.
37 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method of electricity consumption management, comprising:
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measuring power provided to a site by an energy consumption management system for an electricity consumer during a utility billing period; calculating a peak load prevented for the electricity consumer at the site during the utility billing period; determining a peak utility usage charge estimate for the site; and transmitting the peak utility usage charge estimate before the end of the utility billing period. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions encoded thereon for operating an energy consumption management system, the instructions comprising steps of:
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measuring power provided to a site by an energy consumption management system for an electricity consumer during a utility billing period; calculating a peak load prevented for the electricity consumer at the site during the utility billing period; determining a peak utility usage charge estimate for the site; and transmitting the peak utility usage charge estimate before the end of the utility billing period. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of power management system operation, comprising:
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providing a power management system to an electricity consumer, the power management system having capability of mitigating a load of the electricity consumer such that a first peak load is metered when a second peak load would otherwise have been metered, wherein the first peak load is less than the second peak load; and billing at least a portion of an electrical utility charge reduction at least prospectively resulting from mitigating the load. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification