Optimizing operational efficiency and reducing costs of major energy system at large facilities

A computerized apparatus for assisting in the analysis of current and historic patterns of energy consumption in a facility to which energy is supplied by one or more utilities which bill for the energy supplied over consecutive billing periods at rates which may vary during some billing periods to determine the presence of possible operating errors, equipment problems, or hard to detect billing errors, comprising

• a. a computer memory for storing data representing
• i. critical characteristics of the facility as necessary to allow for evaluation of energy consumption by the facility,
• ii. energy consumption by the facility throughout a billing period,
• iii. energy consumption by the facility for subsequent billing periods to create historic and current stored data regarding consumption of energy by the facility, and
• iv. normalized data representing normalized conditions as a replacement for stored data which could represent inefficient operation of the facility, for which solutions are known based on analysis of energy consumption by several large facilities over extended periods of multiple billing periods;
• b. a computer processor for processing the data stored in said computer memory and for processing the normalized data and un-replaced stored data and to create a chart which illustrates and tabulates the effect on the cost under the normalized conditions as compared to the unusual circumstances;
• c. a graph generator for generating graphs to create single period graphs which illustrate and tabulate energy consumption for each billing period and to create multi-period graphs which illustrate and tabulate energy consumption during multiple extended periods formed of consecutive billing periods to allow visual comparison of energy consumption during one billing period with energy consumption during another billing period and to allow visual comparison of energy consumption during one extended period with the energy consumption during a second extended period;
• and
• d. pattern forming means for creating documented patterns representing unusual circumstances, which could represent inefficient operation of the facility having known solutions based on analysis of energy consumption by several large facilities over extended periods of multiple billing periods, to allow identification of the nature of similarly inefficient operation of the facility shown in the graphs produced by said graph generator;
• whereby the single period graphs and the multiple period graphs may be compared with the charts to identify possible operating errors, equipment problems or hard-to-detect billing errors and whereby the documented patterns may be visually compared with the graphs to identify possible solutions to low efficiency and excess costs caused by the unusual circumstances.