Utility portals for managing demand-response events
First Claim
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1. An energy management system that provides a utility portal interface to a utility company for managing demand response events, comprising:
- one or more processors; and
one or more memory devices comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;
generating the utility portal interface in response to a request from a utility company computer system;
receiving, through the utility portal interface from the utility company computer system, an assignment of at least one parameter to each energy consumer that is enrolled to participate in a demand response program, wherein the at least one parameter associates each energy consumer with at least one of a plurality of groups;
receiving, through the utility portal interface and from the utility company computer system, a date at which a future demand response event is to begin, a duration for the future demand response event, and criteria for energy consumers for potential inclusion in the future demand response event;
determining a first subset of the plurality of groups such that the first subset of the plurality of groups satisfies the criteria;
providing, through the utility portal interface and to the utility company computer system, an indication of each of the first subset of the plurality of groups with corresponding estimates of an amount of energy that will be saved by each by participating in the future demand response event;
receiving, through the utility portal interface and from the utility company computer system, a selection of a second subset of the plurality of groups that are selected or deselected from the first subset of the plurality of groups for participation in the future demand response event;
causing a graphical representation of a demand response energy profile to be displayed, wherein the graphical representation of the demand response energy profile is dynamically updated as the second subset of groups are selected or deselected from the first subset of the plurality of groups; and
sending transmissions to thermostats associated with energy consumers in the second subset of the plurality of groups to execute the future demand response event.
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Abstract
Various utility portals that enable utility companies to manage demand-response events are disclosed. The disclosed utility portals include several different options for enabling utility companies to communicate information to and received information from an energy management system. The energy management system can host the portal and can carry out a demand response event via intelligent, network-connected devices based on information provided by the utility company.
88 Citations
19 Claims
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1. An energy management system that provides a utility portal interface to a utility company for managing demand response events, comprising:
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one or more processors; and one or more memory devices comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising; generating the utility portal interface in response to a request from a utility company computer system; receiving, through the utility portal interface from the utility company computer system, an assignment of at least one parameter to each energy consumer that is enrolled to participate in a demand response program, wherein the at least one parameter associates each energy consumer with at least one of a plurality of groups; receiving, through the utility portal interface and from the utility company computer system, a date at which a future demand response event is to begin, a duration for the future demand response event, and criteria for energy consumers for potential inclusion in the future demand response event; determining a first subset of the plurality of groups such that the first subset of the plurality of groups satisfies the criteria; providing, through the utility portal interface and to the utility company computer system, an indication of each of the first subset of the plurality of groups with corresponding estimates of an amount of energy that will be saved by each by participating in the future demand response event; receiving, through the utility portal interface and from the utility company computer system, a selection of a second subset of the plurality of groups that are selected or deselected from the first subset of the plurality of groups for participation in the future demand response event; causing a graphical representation of a demand response energy profile to be displayed, wherein the graphical representation of the demand response energy profile is dynamically updated as the second subset of groups are selected or deselected from the first subset of the plurality of groups; and sending transmissions to thermostats associated with energy consumers in the second subset of the plurality of groups to execute the future demand response event. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of providing a utility portal interface to a utility company computer system for managing demand response events, the method comprising:
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generating the utility portal interface in response to a request from a utility company computer system; receiving, through the utility portal interface from the utility company computer system, an assignment of at least one parameter to each energy consumer that is enrolled to participate in a demand response program, wherein the at least one parameter associates each energy consumer with at least one of a plurality of groups; receiving, through the utility portal interface and from the utility company computer system, a date at which a future demand response event is to begin, a duration for the future demand response event, and criteria for energy consumers for potential inclusion in the future demand response event; determining a first subset of the plurality of groups such that the first subset of the plurality of groups satisfies the criteria; providing, through the utility portal interface and to the utility company computer system, an indication of each of the first subset of the plurality of groups with corresponding estimates of an amount of energy that will be saved by each by participating in the future demand response event; receiving, through the utility portal interface and from the utility company computer system, a selection of a second subset of the plurality of groups that are selected or deselected from the first subset of the plurality of groups for participation in the future demand response event; causing a graphical representation of a demand response energy profile to be displayed, wherein the graphical representation of the demand response energy profile is dynamically updated as the second subset of groups are selected or deselected from the first subset of the plurality of groups; and sending transmissions to thermostats associated with energy consumers in the second subset of the plurality of groups to execute the future demand response event. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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Specification