System and method for single and multizonal optimization of utility services delivery and utilization

Abstract

The present invention is directed to utility service delivery wherein distributed intelligence and networking is used in the optimization of the service delivery. The present invention employs a network of data collection nodes and aggregation nodes located on a power grid controlled by a controlling agency. The data collection nodes comprise Intelligent Communicating Devices (ICDs) and Communicating Devices (CDs), which transmit metrics they collect over the power grid from locations near meters or service transformers to the aggregation nodes. Commands, policies, and program updates may be transmitted from a server at an aggregation node to the ICDs and CDs. The ICDs are also capable of issuing control commands to the CDs and grid management devices, acting locally and / or in conjunction with other ICDs, CDs, aggregation nodes, and central controlling agencies. Through these communications and commands, utility services delivery and utilization is optimized.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 476,083, filed Apr. 15, 2011.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention is directed generally toward utility service delivery and the use of distributed intelligence and networking in the optimization of utility, especially electrical, service delivery. Applications in this field are popularly characterized as “Smart Grid” applications.[0004]2. Background of the Invention[0005]The electrical grid in the United States and most other areas of the world is historically divided into two networks: the transmission grid, and the distribution grid. The transmission grid originates at a generation point, such as a coal-burning or atomic power plant, or a hydroelectric generator at a dam. DC power is generated, converted to high-voltage AC, and transmitted to distribution points, called distribution substations, v...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0014]The stored programs on the ICDs can carry out control activities for conservation and distribution automation without waiting for orders from a central agency, thus reducing the latency of action as well as the communications load on the network substrate.

[0018]Unlike centralized systems, the distributed intelligence in the ICDs provides the ability for applications to react in real-time to transient events such as power surges and sags resulting from external events, load changes, and changes in the distribution grid itself.

[0019]Unlike prior art systems based on wireless technologies, the present invention does not require a separate network of wireless towers for transmitters, receivers, collectors, and repeaters to be built between the network edge and the final aggregation point. The system of the present invention works wherever electrical power is available. This provides an advantage over prior systems such as RF and cellular solutions, which tend to work poorly in dense urban areas, places where the electrical infrastructure is under ground, and rural areas where cellular service is unavailable or inadequate and the costs of building RF mesh networks are prohibitively high.

[0020]The present invention reduces facilities and operational costs associated with running other smart grid models because the communications substrate (the distribution grid) is owned by the utility and does not require the utility to pay service fees to a wireless service provider.

[0021]The present invention improves the accuracy of models and optimizations because it is sensitive to the schematic location of the control points and affected load points, while data collection networks and models based on wireless AMI networks must be chiefly based only on geospatial location and are not sensitive to changes in grid topology such as states of switches and reclosers.

[0023]The present invention, by virtue of being capable of concurrently supporting more real-time reporting and minimizing necessary two-way end-to-end interactions, supports multiple concurrent distribution automation and optimization applications including, but not limited to, conservation voltage reduction, asset protection, demand-side load management, service theft detection, service leakage / loss detection, outage boundary identification, rapid fault isolation, safe recovery management, service quality assurance, predictive failure analysis, restriction of access to service, distributed generation and storage management and optimization, and electric vehicle charging control. Most of these applications may be supported by the same data reports, given that the data can be reported with sufficient frequency and continuity.

Problems solved by technology

Because of this paucity of information, the utilities have been forced to over-deliver service, so that, for example, a standard outlet or socket in a consumer residence might deliver 122V AC when the loading devices used there are designed and rated to operate at as low as 110 V AC.

This disparity provides a substantial opportunity for conservation, but the opportunity cannot be realized without better information about the pattern of demand.

This coarse-grained method is effective for keeping voltages at the load points within specifications, but, to keep some end points from being under-served, requires a safety margin to be employed that results in most end points being slightly over-served, as described above.

Because the effective bandwidth per meter of the typical radio-based AMI mesh network does not permit every meter to report its voltage fluctuations frequently in near-real-time throughout the day, these solutions sample only a limited selection of load points in real-time.

While these techniques are effective for commercial and industrial consumers with automated facility management systems, efforts to engage residential consumers in actively managing their own consumption have met with limited success.

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