# US 2013/0159157 A1 · Energy-disutility modeling for agile demand response > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2013/0159157 A1 - Document ID: US20130159157A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/328,961 - Filed: 2011-12-16 - Published: 2013-06-20 - Earliest claimed: 2011-12-16 - Assignees: Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated - Inventors: Daniel H. Greene; Haitham Hindi - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20130159157A1 ## CPC - G06Q 30/0202: Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities - G06Q 10/04: Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" (market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202) - G06Q 30/02: Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising - G06Q 30/0206: {Price or cost determination based on market factors} - G06Q 30/0283: Price estimation or determination - G06Q 50/06: Energy or water supply - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR ## Abstract An energy management system identifies one or more energy-load components, and generates an energy-disutility graph for the identified components. The energy-disutility graph can include, for each of a sequence of discrete time instances, one or more vertices that each corresponds to an alternative operating state for a component. Further, an arc that couples two vertices indicates an energy-disutility model corresponding to energy and disutility costs for the component. The energy management system also communicates an energy-demand bid to the energy provider, such that the energy-demand bid includes the energy-disutility graph. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A computer-implemented method comprising: identifying one or more components coupled to an energy management system; generating an energy-disutility graph comprising, for each of a sequence of discrete time instances, one or more vertices that each corresponds to an alternative operating state for a component, wherein an arc that couples two vertices indicates an energy-disutility model corresponding to energy and disutility costs for the component; determining price information; and determining operating states for the component using the energy-disutility graph and the price information. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the two vertices coupled by the arc correspond to two adjacent time instances of the energy-disutility graph. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the energy-disutility model indicates an energy-consumption for the component between the two adjacent time instances, and further indicates a disutility cost corresponding to a consumer's perceived cost of not utilizing the component between the two adjacent time instances. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein generating the energy-disutility graph comprises: selecting an unexpanded vertex of the energy-disutility graph; determining state parameters for the unexpanded vertex based on a decode function associated with the component; computing state parameters for a target-state of the component based on a state-transition function and a control-action function; determining a second vertex corresponding to the target-state parameters based on an encode function associated with the component; and generating an arc that maps the unexpanded vertex to the target vertex, which involves computing a disutility model for the arc that indicates disutility parameters corresponding to the component. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein determining the price information comprises receiving, from an aggregator or an energy provider, a proposed price for energy at one or more discrete time intervals. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the pricing information includes an energy-price vector, which indicates an expected price for energy over a sequence of discrete time instances; and wherein determining the operating states for the component comprises: selecting a path through the energy-disutility graph based on the energy-price vector; and determining an operating schedule for the one or more components based on the selected path. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein determining the price information comprises: determining an expected change in energy price for a future time instance; determining a new energy price, by adding the expected change in energy price to a base energy price for the future time instance; and storing the new energy price at an entry of the energy-price vector that corresponds to the future time instance. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein determining the expected change in energy price for the future time instance comprises determining an expected change in value to an energy-related parameter that influences a price for energy from an energy provider; and wherein the energy-related parameter is selected from the group consisting of: a weather forecast at the future time instance; a market price for an energy source at the future time instance; a holiday event for the future time instance; a day of month for the future time instance; a day of week for the future time instance; and a time of day for the future time instance. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating an energy-demand bid to an aggregator, wherein the energy-demand bid includes the energy-disutility graph. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, where the aggregator is an energy provider. ### Claim 11 A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method, the method comprising: identifying one or more components coupled to an energy management system; generating an energy-disutility graph comprising, for each of a sequence of discrete time instances, one or more vertices that each corresponds to an alternative operating state for a component, wherein an arc that couples two vertices indicates an energy-disutility model corresponding to energy and disutility costs for the component; determining price information; and determining operating states for the component using the energy-disutility graph and the price information. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The storage medium of claim 11, wherein the two vertices coupled by the arc correspond to two adjacent time instances of the energy-disutility graph. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The storage medium of claim 12, wherein the energy-disutility model indicates an energy-consumption for the component between the two adjacent time instances, and further indicates a disutility cost corresponding to a consumer's perceived cost of not utilizing the component between the two adjacent time instances. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The storage medium of claim 11, wherein generating the energy-disutility graph comprises: selecting an unexpanded vertex of the energy-disutility graph; determining state parameters for the unexpanded vertex based on a decode function associated with the component; computing state parameters for a target-state of the component based on a state-transition function and a control-action function; determining a second vertex corresponding to the target-state parameters based on an encode function associated with the component; and generating an arc that maps the unexpanded vertex to the target vertex, which involves computing a disutility model for the arc that indicates disutility parameters corresponding to the component. ### Claim 15 (depends on 11) The storage medium of claim 11, wherein determining the price information comprises receiving, from an aggregator or an energy provider, a proposed price for energy at one or more discrete time intervals. ### Claim 16 (depends on 11) The storage medium of claim 11, wherein the price information includes an energy-price vector, which indicates an expected price for energy over a sequence of discrete time instances; and wherein determining the operating states for the component comprises: selecting a path through the energy-disutility graph based on the energy-price vector; and determining an operating schedule for the one or more components based on the selected path. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The storage medium of claim 16, wherein determining the price information comprises: determining an expected change in energy price for a future time instance; determining a new energy price, by adding the expected change in energy price to a base energy price for the future time instance; and storing the new energy price at an entry of the energy-price vector that corresponds to the future time instance. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The storage medium of claim 17, wherein determining the expected change in energy price for the future time instance comprises determining an expected change in value to an energy-related parameter that influences a price for energy from an energy provider; and wherein the energy-related parameter is selected from the group consisting of: a weather forecast at the future time instance; a market price for an energy source at the future time instance; a holiday event for the future time instance; a day of month for the future time instance; a day of week for the future time instance; and a time of day for the future time instance. ### Claim 19 (depends on 11) The storage medium of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises communicating an energy-demand bid to an aggregator, wherein the energy-demand bid includes the energy-disutility graph. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The storage medium of claim 19, where the aggregator is an energy provider. ### Claim 21 An apparatus comprising: a detection module to identify one or more components coupled to an energy management system; a graph-maintenance module to generate an energy-disutility graph comprising, for each of a sequence of discrete time instances, one or more vertices that each corresponds to an alternative operating state for a component, wherein an arc that couples two vertices indicates an energy-disutility model corresponding to energy and disutility costs for the component; a path-selecting module to: determine price information; and determine operating states for a component using the energy-disutility graph and the price information; ### Claim 22 (depends on 21) The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the two vertices coupled by the arc correspond to two adjacent time instances of the energy-disutility graph. ### Claim 23 (depends on 22) The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the energy-disutility model indicates an energy-consumption for the component between the two adjacent time instances, and further indicates a disutility cost corresponding to a consumer's perceived cost of not utilizing the component between the two adjacent time instances. ### Claim 24 (depends on 21) The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the graph-maintenance module is further configured to: select an unexpanded vertex of the energy-disutility graph; determine state parameters for the unexpanded vertex based on a decode function associated with the component; compute state parameters for a target-state of the component based on a state-transition function and a control-action function; determine a second vertex corresponding to the target-state parameters based on an encode function associated with the component; and generate an arc that maps the unexpanded vertex to the target vertex, which involves computing a disutility model for the arc that indicates disutility parameters corresponding to the component. ### Claim 25 (depends on 21) The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the communication module is further configured to receive, from an aggregator or an energy provider, a proposed price for energy at one or more discrete time intervals. ### Claim 26 (depends on 21) The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the pricing information includes an energy-price vector, which indicates an expected price for energy over a sequence of discrete time instances; and wherein the path-selecting module is further configured to: select a path through the energy-disutility graph based on the energy-price vector; and determine an operating schedule for the one or more components based on the selected path. ### Claim 27 (depends on 25) The apparatus of claim 25, further comprising a price-adjusting module to: determine an expected change in energy price for a future time instance; determine a new energy price, by adding the expected change in energy price to a base energy price for the future time instance; and store the new energy price at an entry of the energy-price vector that corresponds to the future time instance. ### Claim 28 (depends on 27) The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising a price-estimating module to: determine, for the future time instance, an expected change in value to an energy-related parameter that influences a price for energy from an energy provider; and determine the expected change in energy price based on the expected change in value to the energy-related parameter; and wherein the energy-related parameter is selected from the group consisting of: a weather forecast at the future time instance; a market price for an energy source at the future time instance; a holiday event for the future time instance; a day of month for the future time instance; a day of week for the future time instance; and a time of day for the future time instance. ### Claim 29 (depends on 21) The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising a communication module to communicate an energy-demand bid to an aggregator, wherein the energy-demand bid includes the energy-disutility graph.