Electric power grid control using a market-based resource allocation system
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- receiving at an intermediary computing system a plurality of requests for electricity from a plurality of end-use consumers, wherein each of the requests indicates a requested quantity of electricity and a consumer-requested index value indicative of a maximum price a respective end-use consumer will pay for the requested quantity of electricity;
receiving at the intermediary computing system a plurality of offers for supplying electricity from a plurality of resource suppliers, wherein each of the offers indicates an offered quantity of electricity and a supplier-requested index value indicative of a minimum price for which a respective supplier will produce the offered quantity of electricity;
with the intermediary computing system, determining a dispatched index value indicating a price at which electricity is to be supplied and consumed based at least in part on the consumer-requested index values and the supplier-requested index values; and
transmitting data indicating the dispatched index value from the intermediary computing system to the plurality of end-use consumers and to the plurality of resource suppliers.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed herein are representative embodiments of methods, apparatus, and systems for distributing a resource (such as electricity) using a resource allocation system. In one exemplary embodiment, a plurality of requests for electricity are received from a plurality of end-use consumers. The requests indicate a requested quantity of electricity and a consumer-requested index value indicative of a maximum price a respective end-use consumer will pay for the requested quantity of electricity. A plurality of offers for supplying electricity are received from a plurality of resource suppliers. The offers indicate an offered quantity of electricity and a supplier-requested index value indicative of a minimum price for which a respective supplier will produce the offered quantity of electricity. A dispatched index value is computed at which electricity is to be supplied based at least in part on the consumer-requested index values and the supplier-requested index values.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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receiving at an intermediary computing system a plurality of requests for electricity from a plurality of end-use consumers, wherein each of the requests indicates a requested quantity of electricity and a consumer-requested index value indicative of a maximum price a respective end-use consumer will pay for the requested quantity of electricity; receiving at the intermediary computing system a plurality of offers for supplying electricity from a plurality of resource suppliers, wherein each of the offers indicates an offered quantity of electricity and a supplier-requested index value indicative of a minimum price for which a respective supplier will produce the offered quantity of electricity; with the intermediary computing system, determining a dispatched index value indicating a price at which electricity is to be supplied and consumed based at least in part on the consumer-requested index values and the supplier-requested index values; and transmitting data indicating the dispatched index value from the intermediary computing system to the plurality of end-use consumers and to the plurality of resource suppliers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions for causing a computer in a distributed resource allocation system to perform a method, the method comprising:
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receiving a plurality of requests for electricity from a plurality of end-use consumers, wherein each of the requests indicates a requested quantity of electricity and a consumer-requested index value indicative of a maximum price a respective end-use consumer will pay for the requested quantity of electricity; receiving a plurality of offers for supplying electricity from a plurality of resource suppliers, wherein each of the offers indicates an offered quantity of electricity and a supplier-requested index value indicative of a minimum price for which a respective supplier will produce the offered quantity of electricity; determining a dispatched index value indicating a price at which electricity is to be supplied based and consumed at least in part on the consumer-requested index values and the supplier-requested index values; and transmitting data indicating the value of the dispatched index value to the plurality of end-use consumers and to the plurality of resource suppliers. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system comprising at least two resource allocation systems, a first of the resource allocation systems being nested within a second of the resource allocation systems, each of the resource allocation systems being configured to communicate with resource consumers and resource suppliers over a digital network and according to a bi-directional communication protocol, wherein the resource allocation systems dispatch resources by:
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separating requests and offers for a resource into two groups; sorting each item in the two groups according to a quantity level; and determining a dispatched index value for the resource by determining an index value at which the same quantity level for requests and offers occurs; and wherein the system further comprises a tracking system that tracks index values dispatched by at least one of the resource allocation systems and debits a consumer'"'"'s index balance in response to the dispatched index values. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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Specification