Method and apparatus for actively managing consumption of electric power supplied by one or more electric utilities

A method for a server to manage a flow of power supplied by at least one electric utility to a plurality of power consuming devices, the method comprising:

• receiving a power control command from an electric utility, the power control command requiring a reduction in an amount of electric power consumed by at least some of the power consuming devices;
• responsive to the power control command, determining a group of one or more client devices to which to issue a power control message, each client device of the group of client devices controlling at least one controllable device, each controllable device selectively enabling and disabling a flow of electric power to at least one power consuming device of the plurality of power consuming devices, the power control message indicating at least one of an amount of electric power to be reduced and an identification of one or more controllable devices to be instructed to disable a flow of electric power to one or more associated power consuming devices;
• and
• issuing the power control message to the group of client devices.

A system controller for use in a system that manages consumption of power supplied by at least one electric utility to a plurality of power consuming devices, wherein power flow to the plurality of power consuming devices is enabled and disabled by a plurality of controllable devices and wherein the plurality of controllable devices operate under the control of one or more client devices, the system controller comprising:

• a command processor operable to issue power control event messages, at least one of the power control event messages requiring a reduction in an amount of electric power consumed by the plurality of power consuming devices;
• an event manager operable to receive the power control event messages, maintain at least one power management status relating to each client device and issue power control event instructions responsive to the power control event messages;
• a database for storing, on at least one of a per client device basis and a per electric utility basis, information relating to power consumed by the plurality of power consuming devices;
• and
• a client device manager operably coupled to the event manager and the database, the client device manager selecting from the database, based on the information stored in the database, at least one client device to which to issue a power control message indicating at least one of an amount of electric power to be reduced and identification of at least one controllable device to be instructed to disable a flow of electric power to one or more associated power consuming devices responsive to receipt of a power control event instruction requiring a reduction in a specified amount of electric power.