System and method for providing automated electrical energy demand management

A system for providing automated energy demand management, comprising:

• at least one network element communicatively coupled to at least one equipment and configured to collect energy data at the at least one equipment, wherein the at least one equipment comprises at least one of a thermostat, an HVAC unit, air conditioning unit, a heating unit, a lighting element, an environmental condition sensor, a motorized equipment, and an appliance;
• a master control unit communicatively coupled to the at least one network element, wherein the master control unit comprises a programmable logic controller, a plurality of communication interfaces, a plurality of equipment interfaces, and one or more data storage units, and is configured to monitor and manage energy use at the at least one equipment via the at least one network element, wherein the programmable logic controller is configured to perform at least one of the following:
• load control, load communications, system communications and data-logging, and self-refining control;
• one or more sensors communicatively coupled to at least the one or more network elements and the master control unit, wherein the one or more sensors comprises at least one of a temperature sensor, a power failure detector, a humidity sensor, and a motion detector.
• a server communicatively coupled to the master control unit over a network, wherein the server is configured to process a variety of information useful for the master control unit;
• and
• a monitoring system communicatively coupled to the master control unit, wherein the monitoring system comprises a meter device for obtain energy consumption readings useful for additional operation and monitoring functions.

A system for providing automated energy demand management, comprising:

• a network element interface communicatively coupled to at least one network element, wherein the at least one network element is communicatively coupled to at least one equipment that consumes energy or generates energy;
• a data storage interface communicatively coupled to at least one data storage unit;
• a network interface communicatively coupled to at least one web server over a network;
• at least one processor comprising a programmable logic controller configured to perform at least the following:
• load control, load communications, system communications and data-logging, and self-refining control.

A non-transitory computer-implemented method for providing automated energy demand management at a site, comprising:

• determining, at a computer processor, initial demand targets and tolerances;
• monitoring power usage at equipment using at least one network element communicatively coupled to the equipment;
• processing, using the computer, information from the equipment to determine efficient power management of the equipment;
• and
• transmitting control data to manage power efficiently at the equipment.

A non-transitory computer-implemented method for providing automated energy demand management at a site, comprising:

• receiving, at a computer processor, a starting demand value;
• setting, at the computer processor, a limit demand target value based on the starting demand value;
• analyzing, at the computer processor, actual demand values at a plurality of equipment at a site based on operating a master control unit that seeks to maintain demand values at less than or equal to the limit demand target value;
• storing, in one or more data storage units, load values for each of a plurality of equipment communicatively coupled to the master control unit;
• and
• maintaining, by the computer processor, a priority list for the plurality of equipment based on the load values, wherein the priority list is used to provide efficient automated energy demand management at a site.