Method and system for electricity consumption profile management for consumer devices

1. A method of electricity consumption profile management for electrical devices, comprising:

receiving an energy consumption control command at a consumer site including one or more electrical devices connected to an energy distribution network, wherein the energy consumption control command includes an on demand energy consumption adjustment request from an energy utility for adjusting energy consumption at the consumer site by a given amount for a given time period;

determining energy consumption adjustment including determining an energy consumption adjustment for at least one of the electrical devices based on the energy consumption control command; and

transmitting an energy consumption adjustment message to said at least one of the electrical devices, commanding the electrical device to adjust its electrical energy consumption by transitioning from a first energy consumption state to a second energy consumption state in response to the energy consumption adjustment message.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

after the given time period has expired, transmitting an energy consumption adjustment expiration message to said at least one of the electrical devices, notifying the electrical device to transition to a different energy consumption state.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein:

multiple electrical devices in a consumer site are connected to the distribution network;

determining energy consumption adjustment includes determining an energy consumption adjustment for each of plural electrical devices in the consumer site based on the energy consumption control command; and

transmitting an energy consumption adjustment message further includes transmitting a energy consumption adjustment message to each of the plural devices, commanding each of the plural electrical devices to adjust its electrical energy consumption accordingly.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein:

determining energy consumption adjustment further includes:

determining energy consumption states of each the plural devices, wherein each energy consumption state indicates a corresponding energy consumption level different from other energy consumption states of the electrical device; and

determining an energy consumption adjustment for each of plural electrical devices further includes determining an energy consumption state for each of the plural electrical devices based on the energy consumption control command; and

transmitting an energy consumption adjustment message to each of the plural devices includes transmitting a state transition message to each of the plural devices based on the determined energy consumption energy adjustment for each device; and

at each of the plural electrical devices, transitioning the electrical device to an energy consumption state as necessary, in compliance with the state transition message in the energy consumption adjustment message.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein transmitting an energy consumption adjustment message to each of the plural devices includes transmitting an energy consumption adjustment message to each of the plural devices via message-based protocol communication on the power lines in the consumer site.

6. The method of claim 1 further including:

a central utility management system determining, and transmitting, an energy consumption control message to one or more consumer sites via the energy distribution network;

wherein receiving an energy consumption control command at a consumer site includes receiving an energy consumption control command at a consumer site from the central utility management system via the energy distribution network.

7. The method of claim 1 further including providing a gateway at the consumer site, and at the gateway performing said steps of determining energy consumption adjustment and transmitting an energy consumption adjustment message.

8. An apparatus for electricity consumption profile management for electrical devices, comprising:

an interface configured for receiving an energy consumption control command at a consumer site including one or more electrical devices connected to an energy distribution network, wherein the energy consumption control command includes an on demand energy consumption adjustment request from an energy utility for adjusting energy consumption at the consumer site by a given amount for a given time period; and

a control module employing a processor configured for determining energy consumption adjustment including determining an energy consumption adjustment for at least one of the electrical devices based on the energy consumption control command, and transmitting an energy consumption adjustment message to said at least one of the electrical devices, commanding the electrical device to adjust its electrical energy consumption by transitioning from a first energy consumption state to a second energy consumption state in response to the energy consumption adjustment message.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein:

multiple electrical devices in a consumer site are connected to the distribution network;

the control module is further configured for determining an energy consumption adjustment for each of plural electrical devices in the consumer site based on the energy consumption control command, and transmitting an energy consumption adjustment message to each of the plural devices, commanding each of the plural electrical devices to adjust its electrical energy consumption accordingly.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the control module is further configured such that:

determining energy consumption adjustment further includes:

determining energy consumption states of each the plural devices, wherein each energy consumption state indicates a corresponding energy consumption level different from other energy consumption states of the electrical device; and

determining an energy consumption adjustment for each of plural electrical devices further includes determining an energy consumption state for each of the plural electrical devices based on the energy consumption control command; and

transmitting an energy consumption adjustment message to each of the plural devices further includes: transmitting a state transition message to each of the plural devices based on the determined energy consumption energy adjustment for each device.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the control module is further configured for transmitting an energy consumption adjustment message to each of the plural devices via message-based protocol communication on the power lines in the consumer site.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the interface is further configured for receiving an energy consumption control command at a consumer site from a central utility management system via the energy distribution network, the central utility management system determining, and transmitting, an energy consumption control message to one or more consumer sites via the energy distribution network.

13. A system for electricity consumption profile management for electrical devices, comprising:

a management gateway including:

an interface configured for receiving an energy consumption control command at a consumer site including one or more electrical devices connected to an energy distribution network, wherein the energy consumption control command includes an on demand energy consumption adjustment request from an energy utility for adjusting energy consumption at the consumer site by a given amount for a given time period; and

a control module employing a processor configured for determining energy consumption adjustment including determining an energy consumption adjustment for at least one of the electrical devices based on the energy consumption control command, and transmitting an energy consumption adjustment message to said at least one of the electrical devices, commanding the electrical device to adjust its electrical energy consumption accordingly; and

a controller for each electrical device, the controller configured for receiving energy consumption adjustment message from the gateway and transitioning the electrical device to an energy consumption state in compliance with the energy consumption adjustment message.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein:

multiple electrical devices in a consumer site are connected to the distribution network; and

the control module is further configured for determining an energy consumption adjustment for each of plural electrical devices in the consumer site based on the energy consumption control command, and transmitting an energy consumption adjustment message to each of the plural devices, commanding each of the plural electrical devices to adjust its electrical energy consumption accordingly.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the control module is further configured such that:

determining energy consumption adjustment further includes:

the control module exchanging messages with the controller for each electrical device for determining energy consumption states of each of the plural devices, wherein each energy consumption state indicates a corresponding energy consumption level different from other energy consumption states of the electrical device;

determining an energy consumption adjustment for each of plural electrical devices further includes determining an energy consumption state for each of the plural electrical devices based on the energy consumption control command; and

transmitting an energy consumption adjustment message to each of the plural devices further includes: transmitting a state transition message to each of the plural devices based on the determined energy consumption energy adjustment for each device.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the control module is further configured for transmitting an energy consumption adjustment message to each of the plural devices via message-based protocol communication on the power lines in the consumer site.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein the controller for each electrical device is further configured for transitioning the electrical device to an energy consumption state as necessary, in compliance with the state transition message in the energy consumption adjustment message.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein the controller for each electrical device includes:

a state management module and a state switching interface module, the state management module configured for receiving energy consumption adjustment message from the gateway and generating corresponding state transition commands to the state switching interface module, and the state switching interface module is configured for transitioning the electrical device to energy consumption states in compliance with the state transition commands from the state management module.

19. The system of claim 15 wherein the management gateway and each controller include message-based protocol communication modules for message exchange therebetween via electrical power lines at the consumer site to which the gateway and each controller are connected wherein the message-based protocol includes messages exchanged on one of power line communication (PLC) protocols.

20. The system of claim 13 wherein the interface is further configured for receiving an energy consumption control command at a consumer site from a central utility management system via the energy distribution network, the central utility management system determining, and transmitting, an energy consumption control message to one or more consumer sites via the energy distribution network.