Wireless control of power transfer switches for electrical load management

An electrical power distribution system comprising:

• a primary power source;
• an electrical breaker panel that distributes power to a plurality of loads comprising non-critical loads, critical loads, and load reduction loads;
• a secondary power source;
• an automatic transfer switch for distributing power to the critical loads from the secondary power source if power is not available from the primary power source;
• a load reduction transfer switch, wired in parallel to the automatic transfer switch, for distributing power to the load reduction loads to reduce power demand on the primary power source.

A method of providing load reduction in a system that supplies power from a primary power source to multiple sets of loads, comprising the steps of:

• coupling a first transfer switch between the primary power source and the loads, and between a secondary power source and a subset of critical loads;
• coupling a remotely controllable second transfer switch between the primary power source and the loads, and between the secondary power source and a subset of load reduction loads that are to be removed from the power grid during times requiring load reduction;
• remotely controlling the first transfer switch to supply power from the secondary power source to the subset of critical loads if power from the primary power source is unavailable;
• and
• remotely controlling the second load reduction transfer switch to supply power from the secondary power source to the subset of load reduction loads in lieu of supplying power from the primary power source thereto when power from the primary power source is available and during times requiring load reduction.