Facilitating revenue generation from wholesale electricity markets

1. An apparatus for determining an operating schedule for at least one energy asset operated by an energy customer of an electricity supplier, so as to generate energy-related revenue, over a time period T, associated with operation of the at least one energy asset according to the operating schedule, wherein the energy-related revenue available to the energy customer over the time period T is based at least in part on a wholesale electricity market, the apparatus comprising:

at least one communication interface;

at least one memory to store processor-executable instructions and an objective function for the at least one energy asset, wherein the at least one energy asset comprises at least one energy consuming asset, wherein the objective function facilitates a determination of the operating schedule for the at least one energy asset based at least in part on an operation characteristic of the at least one energy asset and a forecast wholesale electricity price associated with the wholesale electricity market; and

at least one processing unit, communicatively coupled to the at least one communication interface and the at least one memory, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions, the at least one processing unit:

A) determines the operating schedule for the at least one energy asset using the objective function and a customer baseline (CBL) energy profile for at least one energy consuming asset of the energy assets, over the time period T;

wherein the CBL energy profile is computed based on applying a business-as-usual (BAU) operating schedule for the at least one energy consuming asset to a mathematical model of the operation of the at least one energy consuming asset; and

B) controls the at least one communication interface to transmit to the energy customer the operating schedule for at least one energy asset determined in A), and/or controls the at least one memory so as to store the determined operating schedule.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the mathematical model comprises at least one differential equation modeling at least one of a material composition of the at least one energy consuming asset, a thermal property of the at least one energy consuming asset, an occupancy of the at least one energy consuming asset, and an ambient temperature of the at least one energy consuming asset.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the mathematical model models at least one of a thermal property, a mechanical property, and an electrical property of the at least one energy asset based on the BAU operating schedule.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the mathematical model comprises at least one differential equation modeling the physical operation of the at least one energy consuming asset.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one energy asset is at least one building.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the operation characteristic of the at least one energy asset is a load use schedule.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the load use schedule imposes a maximum allowable load drawn by the at least one energy consuming asset over a time interval that is less than time period T.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the load use schedule impose a different value of maximum allowable load at different intervals during time period T.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the operation characteristic of the at least one energy consuming asset is an energy consumption profile as a function of time of the at least one energy consuming asset.

10. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the at least one energy consuming asset is a controllable energy consuming asset, and wherein the operation characteristic of the at least one controllable energy consuming asset is a set point.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein, upon execution of the processor-executable instructions, the at least one processing unit determines the operating schedule for the at least one energy asset using the objective function in A) by minimizing a net energy-related cost over the time period T,

wherein the net-energy related cost is based at least in part on:

an electricity consumption by the at least one energy consuming asset; and

the CBL energy profile; and

wherein the energy-related revenue available to the energy customer is based at least in part on the minimized net energy-related cost.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the net energy-related cost is specified as a difference between an electricity supply cost and a demand response revenue over the time period T.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processing unit determines the operating schedule for the at least one energy asset determined in (A) as at least one bias signal, and controls the at least one communication interface in (B) to transmit to the energy customer the at least one bias signal.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processing unit controls the at least one communication interface in (B) to transmit to the energy customer the at least one bias signal at regular time intervals during the time period T.

15. An apparatus for determining an operating schedule for at least one energy asset operated by an energy customer of an electricity supplier, so as to generate energy-related revenue, over a time period T, associated with operation of the at least one energy asset according to the operating schedule, wherein the energy-related revenue available to the energy customer over the time period T is based at least in part on a wholesale electricity market, the apparatus comprising:

at least one communication interface;

at least one memory to store processor-executable instructions and an objective function for the at least one energy asset, wherein the at least one energy asset comprises at least one energy consuming asset, wherein the objective function facilitates a determination of the operating schedule for the at least one energy asset based at least in part on an operation characteristic of the at least one energy asset and a forecast wholesale electricity price associated with the wholesale electricity market; and

at least one processing unit, communicatively coupled to the at least one communication interface and the at least one memory, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions, the at least one processing unit:

A) determines the operating schedule for the at least one energy asset using the objective function and a customer baseline (CBL) energy profile for at least one energy consuming asset of the energy assets, over the time period T;

wherein the CBL energy profile is computed based on applying a business-as-usual (BAU) operating schedule for the at least one energy consuming asset to a mathematical model of the operation of the at least one energy consuming asset, and

wherein the CBL energy profile is an energy consumption profile as a function of time for the at least one energy consuming asset; and

B) controls the at least one communication interface to transmit to the energy customer the operating schedule for at least one energy asset determined in A), and/or controls the at least one memory so as to store the determined operating schedule.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein, upon execution of the processor-executable instructions, the at least one processing unit determines the operating schedule for the at least one energy asset using the objective function in A) by minimizing a net energy-related cost over the time period T,

wherein the net-energy related cost is based at least in part on:

an electricity consumption by the at least one energy consuming asset; and

the CBL energy profile; and

wherein the energy-related revenue available to the energy customer is based at least in part on the minimized net energy-related cost.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the net energy-related cost is specified as a difference between an electricity supply cost and a demand response revenue over the time period T.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the economic demand response revenue over the time period T is determined based on the forecast wholesale electricity price, an electricity consumption by the at least one energy consuming asset, and the CBL energy profile for the at least one energy consuming asset.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein:

the at least one energy consuming asset includes at least one controllable energy consuming asset; and

in A), the at least one processing unit determines both the operating schedule for the at least one energy based at least in part on minimizing the net energy-related cost, over the time period T, associated with the electricity consumption by the at least one controllable energy consuming asset.

20. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the economic demand response revenue over the time period T is determined based on the forecast wholesale electricity price and a difference between the electricity consumption by the at least one controllable energy consuming asset and the CBL energy profile for the at least one controllable energy consuming asset.