Power management of resources

A power and energy management system (PEMS) architecture for managing power consumed by a plurality of power devices on a network, the architecture comprising:

• one or more local supervisors each arranged to be connected in digital communication with one or more of the power devices on the network, each local supervisor comprising:
• an input (CONTROL ERROR) to receive a control error signal indicative of a difference between the power consumption of the one or more devices and power available on the network for those devices;
• a watchdog module configured to receive the control error signal and to determine from the control error signal whether there is a need for PEMS action on the network;
• a status monitor configured to obtain information as to the operating status of the one or more power devices;
• a coordinator module configured to define a coordination strategy for operating selected devices of the one or more devices based on the determination from the watchdog module and the information obtained by the status module;
• and
• a control action module arranged to provide a set point to selected devices of the one or more devices to operate according to the coordination strategy determined by the coordinator module.