Method and system for facilitating, coordinating and managing a competitive marketplace

• US 7,085,739 B1
• Filed: 10/20/1999
• Issued: 08/01/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Original Assignee: Accenture LLP (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: Winter, Larry A., Shields, Francis X., Northcutt, Robert L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Abdi, Kambiz
• Application Number:
  US09/421,713
• Time in Patent Office: 2,477 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705 26- 28, 705 35- 40, 705/80, 235/378
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 Electronic negotiation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32

Abstract

A system and method for facilitating, coordinating and managing the operation of a competitive marketplace via the Internet. The system and method collect bids for market services from a plurality of customers, calculators a clearing piece for the market service and calculates settlement information based on the clearing piece calculated and the bids collected.

Claims

1. A method of facilitating, managing and coordinating operation of a competitive marketplace for an energy system comprising generating units using a communication network, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) collecting for a predetermined time interval supply side bids for quantity and price of energy services from a plurality of energy services providers over the communication network and collecting demand side bids for quantity of energy services from a plurality of energy services consumers over the communication network;

(b) receiving at least one real time condition comprising data related to at least one of the generating units for the predetermined time interval that is different from at least one quantity of the supply side bids or quantity of the demand side bids;

(c) arranging, according to price, the supply side bids from the energy service providers that dispatched energy services for the predetermined interval based on the real time condition;

(d) electronically calculating a clearing price for the dispatched energy services regardless of location in the energy system for the predetermined time interval, the calculating of the clearing price being performed after dispatching the energy services in order to account for the real time condition, wherein the clearing price is a price for a supply side bid arranged in step (c) at which quantities for supply side bids equals the energy services dispatched to the consumers, the clearing price being equal for the energy services dispatched to all consumers that received energy services; and

(e) calculating settlement information based upon the clearing price calculated in step (d).

2. A method according to claim 1 further comprising step (f) of creating an invoice for each of the plurality of providers and consumers from the settlement information calculated in step (e) and forwarding the invoice for each providers and consumers to the provider'"'"'s and consumer'"'"'s work station over the Internet.

3. A method according to claim 1 wherein step (c) comprises stacking the supply side bids from the energy services providers that supplied energy services for the predetermined time interval from lowest price to highest;

and

wherein calculating the clearing price comprises matching demand for the energy services supplied with a bid in the stack.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising step (f) of collecting contract information from at least one provider and consumer.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein step (e) comprises calculating accounts payable and accounts receivable.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein step (e) comprises steps (e)(i) of receiving meter information and (e)(ii) calculating accounts payable and receivable by multiplying the received meter reading data by the clearing price calculated in step (d).

7. The method of claim 1 wherein step (e) comprises step (e)(i) of confirming that data necessary to complete settlement for a trading interval is available.

8. The method of claim 4 further comprising step (g) of collecting hourly meter reading data and wherein step (f) of collecting contract information includes step (f)(ii) of overriding step (e) and calculating settlement information based upon contract price and meter reading data.

9. The method of claim 4 further comprising step (g) of sending a confirmation notice to the customer over the communication network that the contract collected in step (f) has been accepted.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising step (f) of receiving trading interval meter reading data.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising step (g) of receiving monthly meter reading data.

12. The method of claim 10 further comprising step (g) of validating each trading interval meter reading data.

13. The method of claim 10 further comprising step (g) of modifying trading interval meter reading data.

14. A method according to claim 1 wherein step (a) is implemented through a graphical user interface.

15. A method according to claim 1 wherein step (a) is implemented through a bulk file upload facility.

16. A method according to claim 1 further comprising step (f) of viewing bid information collected in step (a).

17. A method according to claim 1 further comprising step (f) of modifying bid information collected in step (a).

18. A method according to claim 1 further comprising step (f) of verifying that a price and energy level value exist for each trading interval within a scheduled dispatch period.

19. A method according to claim 1 further comprising step (a) of collecting AGC bid data per unit per scheduled dispatch period.

20. A method according to claim 1 further comprising step (f) of notifying a provider and consumer that the bid information collected in step (a) is accepted.

21. A method according to claim 4 wherein the contract information has pre-determined condition associated therewith and the dispatching of the energy services is performed only if the pre-determined condition associated with the contract is met.

22. The method of claim 1 further comprising a step (f) of providing a market information publishing component that supplies a variety of customer informational needs.

23. The method of claim 1 further comprising a step (f) of providing a database population component that reorganizes data from many different sources into a common repository designed to suit providers'"'"' and consumers'"'"' needs.

24. The method of claim 23 further comprising a step (g) of providing a report generation component that creates a report whenever a provider and consumer so requests wherein the report generation component takes data from the database population component.

25. A system for managing and coordinating the operation of a competitive energy marketplace, the system comprising:

a processor,

a memory,

wherein the memory stores a market operator;

a power system component that represents a network model of a physical power system comprising generating units for dispatching energy services;

a customer component that manages information about entities that have a business relationship with the market operator, wherein the power system component and customer component are operatively coupled to the market operator to receive data from the market operator;

a bid component that enables customers to submit bids for a predetermined period for energy services, wherein customers include energy services providers and energy services consumers;

a meter reading component that stores meter readings submitted by energy services consumers, wherein the bid component and meter reading component are operatively coupled to energy services consumers;

a settlement component that receives at least one real time condition comprising data related to at least one of the generating units for the predetermined time interval that are different from at least one of the submitted bids, the settlement component determines an equal energy services clearing price regardless of location in the power system during the predetermined time interval based on the bids from the providers and the consumers submitted for the predetermined period and based on the real time condition for the predetermined time interval, the determining of the equal energy services clearing price being performed after dispatching the energy services in order to account for the real time condition, and that financially settles all markets based upon meter readings, operational information, bids and clearing prices, wherein the settlement component is operatively coupled to the power system, customer, bid and meter reading components to receive data therefrom; and

a bill component operatively coupled to receive data from the customer and settlement components, wherein the bill component summarizes the financial activity for each customer to be used on an invoice for services provided and/or received; and

the processor executing the components.

26. The system of claim 25 wherein the bid component enables customers to submit bids via a graphical user interface.

27. The system of claim 25 wherein the bid component enables customers to submit bids via bulk file upload facility.

28. The system of claim 25 further comprising a contract component operatively coupled to the settlement component wherein the contract component enables customers to submit contracts for services.

29. The system of claim 28 wherein the contract component enables customers to submit contracts via a graphical user interface.

30. The system of claim 28 wherein the contract component enables customers to submit contracts via a bulk file upload facility.

31. The system of claim 28 further comprising a market information publishing component that receives data from the customer, settlement, bill, meter reading, contract bid and power system components.

32. The system of claim 31 wherein the market information publishing component includes a database population component and a report generation component.

33. A method of facilitating, managing and coordinating operation of a competitive marketplace for an energy system comprising generating units using a communication network, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) collecting for a predetermined time interval supply side bid information for quantity and price of energy services from a plurality of energy services providers and collecting demand side bid information for quantity of energy services from a plurality of energy services consumers;

(b) collecting contract information for energy services from at least one of the plurality of energy services providers and consumers;

(c) receiving at least one real time condition comprising data related to at least one of the generating units for the predetermined time interval that is different from at least one quantity of the supply side bid information or quantity of the demand side bid information;

(d) electronically scheduling operation of units that provide the energy services according to the bid and contract information collected in steps (a) and (b), according to the real time condition;

(e) deploying the operation of the units scheduled in step (d) in order to dispatch the energy services;

(f) electronically collecting meter reading information from the units scheduled in step (e); and

(g) electronically settling the market in accordance with the bid and contract information collected in steps (a) and (b), the real time condition, and meter reading information collected in step (f), wherein settling the market comprises calculating a clearing price for energy services regardless of location in the energy system for the predetermined time interval, the calculating of the clearing price being performed after dispatching the energy services in order to account for the real time condition, wherein the clearing price is a price for a supply side bid at which quantities for supply side bids equals the energy services deployed in step (e), the clearing price being equal for all energy services consumers that received energy services in step (e).

34. The method of claim 33 further comprising step (h) of billing the plurality of energy services consumers according to the settlement determined in step (g).

35. The method of claim 33 further comprising step (h) of providing the schedule determined in step (e) to the plurality of energy services providers and consumers.

36. The method of claim 33 further comprising step (h) of providing settlement information determined in step (g) to the plurality of energy services providers and consumers.

37. The method of claim 33 wherein steps (a), (b) and (f) are performed over the Internet.

38. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for interfacing with a competitive marketplace for an energy system comprising generating units, the computer program comprising:

computer executable code for collecting for a predetermined period supply side bids for quantity and price of energy services from a plurality of energy services providers over a communication network and collecting demand side bids for quantity of energy services from a plurality of energy services consumers over the communication network;

computer executable code for receiving at least one real time condition comprising data related to at least one of the generating units for the predetermined period that is different from at least one quantity of the supply side bids or quantity of the demand side bids;

computer executable code for scheduling operation of units that provide the energy services for the predetermined period;

computer executable code for dispatching the energy services;

computer executable code for calculating a clearing price for the energy services regardless of location in the energy system for the predetermined time interval, the calculating of the clearing price being performed after dispatching the energy services in order to account for the real time condition, wherein the clearing price is a price for a supply side bid at which quantities for supply side bids equals the energy services dispatched to the consumers in the predetermined period, the clearing price being equal for all consumers that received energy services for the predetermined period; and

code for calculating settlement information based upon the clearing price calculated and;

the bids collected.

39. An article of manufacture for facilitating operation of a competitive marketplace for an energy system comprising generating units, the article of manufacture comprising a computer readable medium having a management interface instructions comprising:

computer executable code for collecting supply side bids for a predetermined period for quantity and price of energy services from a plurality of energy services providers over a communication network and collecting demand side bids for quantity of energy services from a plurality of energy services consumers over the communication network;

computer executable code for receiving at least one real time condition comprising data related to at least one of the generating units for the predetermined period that is different from at least one quantity of the supply side bids or quantity of the demand side bids;

computer executable code for dispatching energy services for the predetermined period based on the real time condition;

computer executable code for arranging, according to price, the supply side bids from the energy services providers that supplied energy services in the predetermined period;

computer executable code for calculating a clearing price for the energy services regardless of location in the energy system for the predetermined time interval, the calculating of the clearing price being performed after dispatching the energy services in order to account for the real time condition, wherein the clearing price is a price for a supply side bid at which quantities for supply side bids equals the energy services dispatched to the consumers in the predetermined period, the clearing price being equal for all consumers; and

computer executable code for calculating settlement information based upon the clearing price and the bids collected.

40. A method of facilitating, managing and coordinating operation of a competitive marketplace for an energy system comprising generating units using a communication network, the method comprising the steps of:

collecting for a predetermined time interval supply side bids for quantity and price of energy services from a plurality of energy services providers over the communication network and collecting demand side bids for quantity of energy services from a plurality of energy services consumers over the communication network;

receiving data related to at least one of the generating units for the predetermined time interval that is different from at least one quantity of the supply side bids;

arranging, according to price, the supply side bids from the energy service providers that dispatched energy services for the predetermined interval based on the data related to the at least one generating units;

electronically calculating a clearing price regardless of location in the energy system for the dispatched energy services for the predetermined time interval, the calculating of the clearing price being performed after dispatching the energy services in order to account for the data related to the at least one generating units, wherein the clearing price is a price for a supply side bid arranged for the predetermined period at which quantities for supply side bids equals the energy services dispatched to the consumers in the predetermined period; and

calculating settlement information based upon the clearing price calculated.

41. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for interfacing with a competitive marketplace for an energy system comprising generating units, the computer program comprising:

computer executable code for collecting for a predetermined time interval supply side bids for quantity and price of energy services from a plurality of energy services providers over the communication network and collecting demand side bids for quantity of energy services from a plurality of energy services consumers over the communication network;

computer executable code for receiving data related to at least one of the generating units for the predetermined time interval that is different from at least one quantity of the supply side bids;

computer executable code for arranging, according to price, the supply side bids from the energy service providers that dispatched energy services for the predetermined interval based on the data related to the at least one generating units;

computer executable code for calculating a clearing price regardless of location in the energy system for the dispatched energy services for the predetermined time interval, the calculating of the clearing price being performed after dispatching the energy services, wherein the clearing price is a price for a supply side bid arranged for the predetermined period at which quantities for supply side bids equals the energy services dispatched to the consumers in the predetermined period; and

computer executable code for calculating settlement information based upon the clearing price calculated.