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

A system for managing consumption of power supplied by at least one electric utility to a plurality of power consuming devices, the system comprising:

• one or more client devices, each client device being responsive to received power control messages and including:
• at least one controllable device interface facilitating communication of power control instructions to at least one controllable device, each controllable device controlling a flow of electric power to a power consuming device of the plurality of power consuming devices responsive to the power control instructions;
• and
• a device control manager operable to generate the power control instructions responsive to the received power control messages;
• and
• a system controller communicatively coupled to the at least one electric utility and the one or more client devices, the system controller including:
• an event manager operable to generate power control event instructions, at least one of the power control event instructions requiring a reduction of electric power consumed by the plurality of power consuming devices;
• a database operable to store, 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 operable to select, based on the information stored in the database and responsive to a power control event instruction requiring a reduction of electric power, at least one client device to which to communicate a power control message, the 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.

A method for a system to manage consumption of power supplied by at least one electric utility to a plurality of power consuming devices, the system including a system controller and at least one client device, the system controller being communicatively coupled to the at least one electric utility and the at least one client device, the method comprising:

• determining, by the system controller, a group of one or more client devices to which to communicate a power control message, each client device of the group of client devices controlling at least one controllable device, each controllable device controlling 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;
• communicating, by the system controller, the power control message to the group of client devices;
• receiving, by at least one client device of the group of client devices, the power control message;
• and
• responsive to the power control message, communicating, by the at least one client device of the group of client devices, a power control instruction to a controllable device, thereby causing the controllable device to which the power control instruction was issued to disable a flow of electric power to at least one associated power consuming device.

A method for a system to manage consumption of power supplied by at least one electric utility to a plurality of power consuming devices, the system including a system controller and at least one client device, the system controller being communicatively coupled to the at least one electric utility and the at least one client device, the method comprising:

• determining, by the system controller, a group of one or more client devices to which to communicate a power control message, each client device of the group of client devices controlling at least one controllable device, each controllable device controlling 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;
• communicating, by the system controller, the power control message to the group of client devices;
• receiving, by a client device of the group of client devices, the power control message;
• and
• disabling a flow of electric power to at least one power consuming device responsive to receipt of the power control message.

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

• receiving status messages from a plurality of client devices, each status message including power consumption information for at least one power consuming device of the plurality of power consuming devices;
• storing the received power consumption information in a database in association with respective client devices;
• determining a group of one or more client devices to which to communicate a power control message based on the stored power consumption information, the power control message requiring a reduction in power consumed by one or more power consuming devices;
• and
• communicating 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 controlled by a plurality of client devices, the system controller comprising:

• an event manager operable to generate power control event instructions, at least one of the power control event instructions requiring a reduction of electric power consumed by the plurality of power consuming devices;
• a client device interface that facilitates communication of power control messages to the plurality of client devices and facilitates receipt of status messages from the plurality of client devices, wherein each status message includes power consumption information for at least one power consuming device of the plurality of power consuming devices;
• a database operable to store, on at least one of a per client device basis and a per electric utility basis, power consumption information received through the client device interface for the plurality of power consuming devices;
• and
• a client device manager operable to select, based on the stored power consumption information in the database and responsive to a power control event instruction requiring a reduction of electric power, at least one client device to which to communicate a power control message through the client device interface, the power control message requiring a reduction in power consumed by one or more power consuming devices.