Patent Publication Number: US-2011054712-A1

Title: Methods, apparatus, and media for controlling supply of a utility service to a load

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 12/399,897, filed Mar. 6, 2009, which is a divisional of application Ser. No. 11/022,206, filed Dec. 23, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,711,651 which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/764,490, filed Jan. 17, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,842,706, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, specifically the embodiments relating to methods, apparatus, media, and signals for controlling the supply of a utility service to a load. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     This invention relates to apparatus, methods, and media for managing utility usage, in particular for controlling excessive or non-optimized usage of a utility, controlling a supply of a utility service to a load, facilitating monitoring of subscriber usage of a utility service, and billing a subscriber for utility service usage. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     With the increasing prospect of rising natural gas prices, energy shortages, and water shortages looming on the horizon, there is a need for smart management of utility service usage. As national and worldwide energy resources dwindle, there is an increasing need to manage the efficiency of energy and water use. Recent years have seen an increased prevalence of energy blackouts, brownouts, and water restrictions during certain times of the year in order to conserve available resources of energy and water. As we move into the twenty first century the conservation of energy and water will gain increasing importance, requiring careful management of utilities. 
     Many existing systems used to manage utilities do so for control in disaster or abnormal conditions. For example some systems involve shutting off the supply of utilities during an emergency, such as in an earthquake or in response to leak detection or a short circuit. These systems generally monitor for faults or leaks in the utility system and respond by turning off a circuit breaker or shutting off valves and evacuating gases and water in order to prevent further damage to a dwelling or building. 
     However, in these systems there is no monitoring of utility usage and there is no subsequent controlling of utility supply in response to measurements made while monitoring the utility usage. Underscoring that need is the increased advantage of minimizing utility usage costs for inefficient use of energy, and the added safety precautions the system would present when utilizing appliances which have not been optimized for energy usage. Moreover, monitoring the usage of utilities would also naturally facilitate the tracking of utility expenditures, and would provide an opportunity to incorporate monitoring and controlling utilities with a billing process to provide payment for utility usage. 
     What would be desirable therefore are methods and apparatus which manage usage of a utility service. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention addresses the above needs by providing methods, apparatus, media, and signals for managing utility usage. 
     In accordance with one aspect of the invention there is provided a method of controlling usage of a utility including receiving a representation of a utility service usage at a load, receiving and storing a usage range representation, and producing a control signal for use by a utility service interrupter, when the usage is outside of the usage range representation. The control signal is operable to cause the utility service interrupter to interrupt a supply of the utility service to the load. 
     The method may include transmitting the control signal to the utility service interrupter, receiving user input specifying the usage range representation and/or receiving a message from a communications system and extracting the usage range representation from the message according to a network protocol. 
     The method may also include receiving a plurality of representations of the utility service usage representing the utility service usage at the load, and receiving and storing a plurality of usage range representations. 
     The method may also include producing a derived representation from the plurality of representations of the utility service usage and producing the control signal when the derived representation is outside of the usage range representation. The method may also include comparing the representations of the utility service usage with respective usage range representations and producing the control signal when a set of representations of the utility service usage is outside of a corresponding set of usage range representations. 
     The method may also include storing the representation of utility service usage, displaying the representation of utility service usage, storing an indication of whether or not the control signal is active, and displaying the indication. 
     The method may also include transmitting the representation of the utility service usage to a remote location. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided a computer readable medium for providing instruction codes executable by a programmable device, for directing the programmable device to receive a representation of a utility service usage at a load, receive and store a usage range representation, and produce a control signal for use by utility service interrupter, when the usage is outside of the usage range representation. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer data signal embodied in a carrier. The computer data signal includes code segments for directing a programmable device to receive a representation of utility service usage at a load, receive and store a usage range representation, and produce a control signal for use by a utility service interrupter, when the usage is outside of the usage range representation. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for controlling usage of a utility including a communications device operable to receive a representation of a utility service usage at a load and operable to receive a usage range representation, a data storage device operable to store the usage range representation, and a controller, in communication with the communications device and the data storage device. The controller is operable to produce a control signal for use by a utility service interrupter, when the usage is outside of the usage range representation. The control signal is operable to cause the utility service interrupter to interrupt the supply of the utility service to the load. 
     The controller may further include a control signal generator operable to produce the control signal, or a processor circuit incorporating the control signal generator. 
     The communications device may be operable to transmit the control signal to the utility service interrupter, to receive user input specifying the usage range representation, to receive a message from a communications system containing the usage range representation, to be extracted from the message by the processor circuit according to a network protocol. 
     The communications device may be operable to receive a plurality of representations of the utility service usage representing the utility service usage at the load, and operable to receive a plurality of usage range representations. The data storage device may be operable to store the plurality of usage range representations. 
     The processor circuit may be operable to produce a derived representation from the plurality of representations of the utility service usage, and operable to cause the control signal generator to produce the control signal when the derived representation is outside of the usage range representation. The processor circuit may also be operable to compare the representations of the utility service usage with respective usage range representations and may be operable to cause the control signal generator to produce the control signal when a set of representations of the utility service usage is outside of a corresponding set of usage range representations. 
     The data storage device may be operable to store the representation of utility service usage, or to store an indication of whether or not the control signal is active. 
     The apparatus may further include an annunciation device operable to display the representation of the utility service usage, and the processor circuit may be operable to direct the annunciation device to display the indication of whether or not the control signal is active. 
     The communications device may also be operable to transmit the representation of utility service usage to a remote location. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of controlling a supply of a utility service to a load including receiving a control signal indicating that a usage of the utility service at the load is outside of a usage range representation, and interrupting the supply of the utility service to the load in response to the control signal. The control signal may be received at a communications device in communication with a utility service interrupter, and interrupting may include actuating a valve or a switch. 
     The method may also include producing a representation of the usage of the utility service by the load, for use by a controller operable to produce the control signal, and transmitting the representation to the controller. 
     The method may also include measuring the usage of the utility service by the load to produce a measurement value representing usage of the utility service by the load, and producing the representation from the measurement value. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer readable medium for providing instruction codes executable by a programmable device, for directing the programmable device to receive a control signal indicating that usage of the utility service at the load is outside of a usage range representation, and to interrupt the supply of the utility service to the load in response to the control signal. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave, the signal including code segments for directing a programmable device to receive a control signal indicating that a usage of the utility service at the load is outside of a usage range representation, and to interrupt the supply of the utility service to the load in response to the control signal. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for controlling a supply of utility service to a load including a communications device operable to receive a control signal indicating that a usage of the utility service at the load is outside of a usage range representation, and a utility service interrupter, in communication with the communications device. The utility service interrupter is operable to interrupt a supply of utility service to the load in response to the control signal, and may be operable to actuate a valve or a switch. 
     The apparatus may also include a processor circuit operable to produce a representation of the usage of a utility service by the load, for use by a controller operable to produce the control signal. The communications device may be operable to transmit the representation to the controller. 
     The apparatus may also include a measurement device in communication with the processor circuit. The measurement device may be operable to measure the usage of the utility service by the load to produce a measurement value representing the usage of the utility service by the load, and the processor circuit may be operable to produce the representation from the measurement value. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided a method facilitating monitoring of subscriber usage of a utility service including producing a measurement of usage of the utility service at a subscriber location, and transmitting the measurement from the subscriber location to an entity for monitoring the subscriber usage of the utility service. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided a computer readable medium for providing instruction codes executable by a programmable device, for directing the programmable device to produce a measurement of usage of the utility service at a subscriber location, and transmit the measurement from the subscriber location to an entity for monitoring the subscriber usage of the utility service. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave. The signal includes code segments for directing a programmable device to produce a measurement of usage of the utility service at a subscriber location, and transmit the measurement from the subscriber location to an entity for monitoring the subscriber usage of the utility service. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for monitoring usage of a utility service by a subscriber including a utility service measurement device operable to produce a measurement of usage of the utility service at a subscriber location, and a transmitter, in communication with the utility service measurement device, operable to transmit the measurement from the subscriber location to an entity for monitoring the subscriber usage of the utility service. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of billing a subscriber for utility service usage including producing a measurement of usage of the utility service at a location, receiving rate information for the utility service, applying the rate information to the measurement to produce a billing value, and producing a billing signal representing a bill bearing the billing value, for use by an output device at a subscriber location for producing a bill at the subscriber location. 
     The method may also include causing the bill to be printed or displayed at the subscriber location in response to the billing signal, or produced at a location designated by the subscriber. 
     The method may also include receiving the rate information at the subscriber location, and applying the rate information at the subscriber location. 
     The method may also include requesting the rate information from a server, by establishing a communications connection to a remote server, and transmitting the measurement or a value derived from the measurement to a remote server. The method may also include transmitting utility service usage information to a server. 
     The method may also include producing and storing a plurality of measurements of usage of the utility service, measuring usage of a plurality of utility services, obtaining rate information for at least some of the utility services, applying the rate information to the at least some of the utility services to produce at least some billing values for the at least some utility services, and causing at least some bills to be produced, bearing the at least some billing values. The method may also include producing the billing signal in response to a request for the bill to be produced. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provide a computer readable medium for providing instruction codes executable by a programmable device and a computer data signal including respective code segments embodied in a carrier wave. The computer readable medium provides instruction codes executable by a programmable device and the computer data signal contains respective code segments for directing a programmable device to produce a measurement of usage of the utility service at a location, to receive rate information from the utility service, to apply the rate information to the measurement to produce a billing value, and to produce a billing signal representing a bill bearing the billing value, for use by an output device at a subscriber location for producing a bill at the subscriber location. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for billing a subscriber for utility service usage including a utility service measurement device operable to measure the utility service usage at a location, a communications device operable to receive rate information for the utility service, a processor circuit, in communication with the communications device, and operable to apply the rate information to the measurement to produce billing value and to generate a billing signal representing a bill bearing the billing value, for use by an output device at a subscriber location for producing a bill at the subscriber location. 
     The apparatus may further include an annunciation device responsive to the billing signal for producing the bill bearing the billing value. The annunciation device may further include a printer to print the bill at the location or a printer at a remote location to print the bill at a remote location. 
     The communications device may further include a receiver operable to receive the rate information at the location. The processor circuit may be operable to apply the rate information at the location. 
     The communications device may be operable to establish communications with either a server or a remote server to request the rate information from the server or the remote server, and further may include a transmitter operable to transmit either the measurement or a value derived from the measurement to a remote server. The transmitter may be operable to transmit utility service usage information to a server. 
     The apparatus may further include a data storage device operable to store the measurement of utility service usage. 
     The apparatus may also include a plurality of utility service measurement devices operable to produce a plurality of measurements of the utility service usage. 
     The plurality of utility service measurement devices may be operable to measure usage of a plurality of utility services, and the communications device may be in communication with the plurality of the utility service measurements and operable to obtain rate information for at least some of the utility services. 
     The processor circuit may be operable to apply the rate information to the at least some of the utility service measurements to produce at least some billing values for the at least some utility services. 
     The annunciation device may be operable to cause at least some bills to be produced, bearing the at least some billing values and may be operable to produce the billing signal in response to a request for the bill to be produced. 
     Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a system for managing utility usage according to a first embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a utility management apparatus for controlling a supply of a utility service, as part of the system shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart depicting a process effected by a processor circuit of the utility management apparatus shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a tabular representation of a measurement/status record produced by a processor circuit executing the process shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is a tabular representation of a look-up table read by the processor circuit of the utility management apparatus shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 6  is a tabular representation of a test record recording the status indicators for a plurality of measurement/status records shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic diagram of a control device of the system shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic diagram of a control device, according to an alternate embodiment, of the system shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 9  is a schematic diagram of a billing system incorporating part of the system shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 10  is a flowchart depicting a process effected by a processor circuit of the billing system shown in  FIG. 9 . 
         FIG. 11  is a schematic diagram of a bill produced according to the process shown in  FIG. 10 , by the billing system shown in  FIG. 9 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  a system for managing utility usage, according to a first embodiment of the invention, is shown generally at  10 . In this embodiment, the system includes a utility management apparatus  12 , a plurality of measurement devices  13 ,  14 ,  15 ,  16 ,  17 ,  18 ,  19 , and  21  and a plurality of control devices  26 ,  28 , and  30 . 
     The plurality of measurement devices  13 ,  14 ,  15 ,  16 ,  17 ,  18 ,  19 , and  21  measure utility usage parameters, such as electrical power, water, and gas used by loads  20 ,  22 , and  24 , respectively, for example, and the control devices  26 ,  28 , and  30  may be valves or relays, for example, for controlling the supply of utility services to the respective loads. The load may include appliances connected to a supply of gas, water, or electricity, for example, or other types of utilities. 
     The measurement devices  13 ,  14 ,  15 ,  16 ,  17 ,  18 ,  19 , and  21  measure the usage of the utility service by their respective loads to produce a measurement value representing the usage of the utility service by the respective load. The measurement devices  14  and  16 , for example, may be flow meters or flow switches to measure or sense the flow of gas and water to loads  20  and  22 , respectively, and measurement devices  13 ,  15 ,  17 ,  19 , and  21  may measure the amount of gas, water, heat, and/or other secondary by products exhausted from the respective loads. Alternatively, or in addition, measurement device  18  may be operable to measure the electric power consumed by respective electric load  24 , and measurement device  21  may be operable to measure the continuity through the load to determine if the electric load is connected to a supply of utility service. In general, any other measurement devices able to determine the usage of a utility by a load may be used. Moreover, the measurement devices may comprise individual devices or any combination of measurement devices may be grouped together to determine an appropriate measurement of the usage of a utility service by a load. 
     The measurement value is a representation of the usage of the utility service by the respective loads or may be used to produce such a representation. The representation of utility service usage may be a signal representative of a measurement of flow of water or gas through an appliance, the amount of electric power or thermal energy used by an appliance, for example, or other types of measurements which can be used to determine the usage of a utility service. The representation of utility service usage may represent the usage of a single utility by an appliance, or may represent the usage of a plurality of utilities by various appliances. 
     The control devices  26 ,  28 , and  30  are operable to interrupt a supply of utilities to their respective loads in response to respective control signals. A control signal may be a voltage signal in the 0-5V range, a current signal in the 4-20 mA range, or a computer data signal, for example. Generally, the control signal may be represented by a change in any feature of an electrical signal, for example. 
     The utility management apparatus  12  includes a communications device  32 , a data storage device  34 , and a utility service controller  36  in communication with the communications device and the data storage device. The utility management apparatus  12  receives, at the communications device  32 , the representations of utility service usage at loads  20 ,  22 , and  24 , from the measurement devices  13 ,  14 ,  15 ,  16 ,  17 ,  18 ,  19 , and  21 , respectively. 
     The communications device  32  is also operable to receive a usage range representation, which serves as a range of values in determining whether there is excessive or non-optimized usage of a utility by a load, and stores the usage range representation in the data storage device  34 . The data storage device— 34  may store a single usage range representation pertaining to a single load, or may alternatively store a plurality of usage range representations for various loads. The utility service controller  36  compares the representation of utility service usage at a load to the corresponding usage range representation stored in the data storage device  34 . If the utility service controller  36  determines that the usage of a utility by a particular load  24  is outside of the usage range representation for that load, the utility service controller produces a control signal for use by the control device  30  to interrupt the supply of the utility service to the respective load  24 . 
     Management Apparatus 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , to achieve the above function, in this embodiment, the utility management apparatus  12  includes a processor circuit shown at  38  as part of the utility service controller  36 . In this embodiment, the processor circuit  38  includes a control signal generator  40  for producing the control signal when the usage is outside of the usage range representation, for use by the control devices  26 ,  28 , and  30  shown in  FIG. 1 , to interrupt a supply of the utility service to the respective loads. Alternatively, the control signal generator  40  may be separate from the processor circuit  38 . 
     In this embodiment, the utility service controller  36  also includes a block of instruction codes provided by a processor readable medium accessible by the processor circuit  38 . In this embodiment, the processor readable medium includes a program memory device  42  and a random access memory device  44 . Alternatively, the processor readable medium may be a memory device such as a disc drive or CD-ROM, or EPROM, for example, but could alternatively be a communications link to the communications device  32  of the utility management apparatus  12 , where the communications device is operable to communicate with a remote device. The communications link may include the internet, for example. 
     In the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the data storage device  34  is shown as a memory device separate from the utility service controller  36 . Alternatively, the data storage device  34  may be incorporated in the program memory device  42 , the random access memory device  44 , or a CD-ROM, for example. Moreover, the data storage device  34  may be alternatively housed in the utility service controller  36 , as shown in the embodiment in  FIG. 1 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the communications device  32  is operable to receive from the measurement devices  13 ,  14 ,  15 ,  16 ,  17 ,  18 ,  19 , and  21  the representations of the utility service usage representing the utility service usage at respective loads  20 ,  22 , and  24 , and pass the representations to an input port  46  of the utility service controller  36  to be read by the processor circuit  38 . Alternatively, the communications device  32  may store the representations of utility service usage at the data storage device  34 , to be read by the processor circuit  38  of the utility service controller  36  as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     Still referring to  FIG. 1 , the communications device  32  may also be operable to transmit the representation of utility service usage via a transmitter  55 , such as a modem, for example, over a communications system to a remote location, such as a group of utility service suppliers  53  supplying the utility services or any other entity, for monitoring the usage of the utility service. The transmitter  55  is shown in  FIG. 1  as separate from the utility management apparatus  12  and the communications device  32 , but alternatively may be part of the communications device of the management apparatus. The communications system may include a computer network such as the internet  57  or may include a public switched telephone network (PSTN)  52 , for example, or a private network or other communications system configured to deliver messages to contain the representation of the utility service usage. 
     The communications device  32  is also operable to receive input specifying the usage range representations of the respective loads. The usage range representation may be a signal derived by a processor in the communications device or other device, from input representing a maximum amount of power, voltage or current allowable to be used by a load  24 , or a maximum amount of water or gas allowable to be used by loads  22  or  20 , respectively. Alternatively, the usage range representation may represent an efficiency rating, a flow rating, a maximum and/or minimum utility service usage amount, a secondary by-product amount, or generally any other criteria which can be used to compare with the measured usage of a utility service by a load to determine if the usage by the load is excessive or not optimized to allow for maximum or efficient performance of an appliance connected to the load. 
     The input may be provided by a user from a keyboard  48 , or may be provided in a message from a communications system, which may be the internet  57  or the PSTN  52 , shown in  FIG. 1 . For example, a user managing the utility usage may want to specify the maximum amount of power to be used by a load for a certain time, or may want to change the maximum amount criteria to accommodate changes in the power demand due to holidays or extreme weather or general environmental conditions. Alternatively, the utility service suppliers  53  or other entity may set or change a maximum water usage criteria in response to drought conditions, or may set a total power consumption limit during times of high power demand, for example. Or, for example, the utility service suppliers  53  or other authorities may set different temperature limits for cooling or heating devices in different buildings. 
     Alternatively, certain appliances may be equipped with information message transmitting ability, such as ID chips, which can communicate information messages about expected power consumption, for example, to the communications device  32  to provide input specifying the usage range representation. Referring back to  FIG. 2 , the processor circuit  38  may be operable to extract the usage range representations from the messages and may store the usage range representations in the data storage device  34 . 
     In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 , the utility service controller  36  is connected to an annunciation device  50 , such as a monitor, television screen, speaker, or printer, for example, which is operable to annunciate by producing sound, printing, or displaying representations of the utility service usage by respective loads. Alternatively, signals produced by the utility service controller  36  for use by the annunciation device  50  may be transmitted to an annunciation device at a remote location, such as at the utility service suppliers  53  or at a location of an owner of a building using the utilities. This provides the user of the utilities, or the one responsible for the usage of the utilities, or the utility suppliers with real-time information relating to utility usage by individual loads or a plurality of loads. 
       FIG. 3  shows a flowchart  60  depicting a process effected by the block of instruction codes stored in the program memory device  42  which cooperates with the processor circuit  38  shown in  FIG. 2 , to function as the control signal generator  40 . Separate, similar processes are simultaneously executed by the processor circuit  38 , for each load for which usage is monitored. The process is invoked periodically, such as every thirty seconds, to determine if there is an excessive or non-optimized usage of a utility by a load, and measurement of status records for each load are updated to hold current measurements and status of usage of the utility at the load. 
     Block  62  causes the processor circuit  38  to measure the flow of the utility to the load. To do this the processor circuit  38  may cause the communications device  32  to transmit a requesting signal to the measurement devices  13 ,  14 ,  15 ,  16 ,  17 ,  18 ,  19 , or  21  shown in  FIG. 1  to produce a measurement value. In response the measurement devices  13 ,  14 ,  15 ,  16 ,  17 ,  18 ,  19 , and  21  produce a measurement value representing the usage of the utility service by respective loads, or the measurement value may be provided without the need for a requesting signal. The measurement value may represent the flow of water or gas through an appliance, the amount of electric power or thermal energy used by an appliance, for example, or other types of measurements which can be used to determine the usage of a utility service. For example, if load  20  is used by a gas fireplace device, the amount of usage of the gas utility by the load can be determined from measurement device  14 , which measures the amount of flow of gas into the fireplace device. In addition, the measurement value may represent the amount of heat or carbon dioxide or any other secondary by-product produced by the fireplace device  20  as measured by measurement device  13 . Alternatively, measurement devices  16  and  17  may measure the pressure or temperature of water in two separate sections of a pipe leading to a faucet  22 , respectively, and the measurement value may be the difference in pressure or heat values to determine if the pipe has undesirable transmission capacity. 
     The measurement value obtained at the I/O port  46  of the processor circuit  38  is then stored at the data storage device in the corresponding measurement/status record, such as the disk drive  34  or memory device  44 , for example. In addition to the measurement value, other information of relevance to the determination of utility usage may be stored. For example, additional information to be stored could include a start period of the measuring process, a time duration of the measuring process, the total consumption used by a load, and identification numbers corresponding to a specific appliance using the utility or specifying the utility supplier. The processor circuit  38  then receives the measurement value at an I/O port  46 . The measurement value as measured by measurement device  14  or  16  may represent the flow of gas or water to loads  20  or  22 , respectively. 
     Block  64  then causes the processor circuit  38  to determine whether the utility service is supplied to the load. To do this, the processor circuit  38  determines whether the measured flow is non-zero or exceeds minimum threshold criteria and if so the processor circuit determines that utility service is supplied to the respective load. 
     Further, the processor circuit  38  may be operable to produce a derived representation from a plurality of representations of the utility service usage. The derived representation may represent the efficiency of usage of a load derived from the utility service usage measurements, or may represent the consumption rate or exhaust rate of utility service usage by the load, for example. Alternatively, the derived representation may represent the efficiency of usage of the utility by the load, which, for example, may be determined by using measurement device  15  to measure the temperature change of a room heated by the fireplace device  20  to determine the heat produced, and then dividing the heat produced by the fireplace device by the thermal heat equivalent of gas delivered into the load. In addition, the derived rate may also represent the burning efficiency of gas as determined from measured carbon dioxide value or other secondary by-product value and the amount of gas supplied to the load  20 , for example. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 3 , once the measurement value is obtained, block  66  directs the processor circuit  38  to compare the representations of the utility service usage with respective usage range representations. If a representation of the utility service usage is within the corresponding usage range representation, block  68  directs the processor circuit  38  to report the representation of utility service usage to the annunciation device  50 , and/or to store the representation in the measurement/status record in the data storage device  34 . In addition, a status indicator indicating that the utility service usage is within the corresponding usage range representation may be stored in the measurement/status record. The processor circuit  38  updates the status indicator information whenever block  66  has been entered and the representations have been compared. The processor circuit  38  may then direct the annunciation device  50  to display the updated status indicator. The process is then repeated by re-entering block  62  of the flowchart. In addition, the measurement value may also be displayed at the annunciation device  50 . The processor circuit  38  may access other instruction codes stored in the program memory device  42  or other memory device  44 , for example, to provide a graphical display at the annunciation device  50  to provide a user with a presentation of utility usage details, including the measurement values obtained. 
     If at block  66  it has been determined that a representation of the utility service usage is outside of a corresponding usage range representation, block  68  directs the processor circuit  38  to update the status indicator in the measurement/status record to indicate that the usage range has been exceeded and to store the usage representation and the status indicator and report the status indicator and the representation of utility service usage to the annunciation device  50 . The processor circuit  38  is then directed back to block  62  and the process is repeated. Alternatively, at block  66  the processor circuit  38  may determine if a set or group of a plurality of representations of utility service usage is outside of a corresponding set of usage range representations, and if so, block  68  stores and reports the representation of utility service usage, and updates, stores, and reports the updated status indicator. 
     If at block  64  it is determined that the utility service is not being supplied to a load, the processor circuit  38  is immediately directed to block  68  to report to the annunciation device  50  and store in the measurement/status record an updated status indicator indicating that no utility service is being drawn from the load. 
     As stated above, separate similar processes are simultaneously executed by the processor circuit  38  for each load for which utility service usage is measured. Consequently, as a result of executing all of these processes, a plurality of measurement/status records corresponding to respective loads is continually updated to reflect the instantaneous current status of the supply of the utility service to the load. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , an example of a measurement/status record is shown generally at  200  and includes a plurality of measurement fields  202 , usage range fields  204 , status indicator fields  206 , and a control signal field  208 . The measurement fields  202  hold values representing measurements acquired from measurement devices  13 ,  14  and  15 , respectively, for example, and may further include a field  203  for holding a derived value, such as energy consumption, computed from measured values. The usage range fields  204  hold values representing usage ranges for each measurement device  13 ,  14  and  15  and may include an additional field  205  or fields for derived representations representing energy usage ranges, for example. 
     The status indicator fields  206  include a primary field  144  indicating whether utility service is delivered to the load, a secondary field  146  indicating whether the usage of the utility is within the corresponding usage range representation, and a response field  148  indicating whether the supply of the utility service to the corresponding load may be interrupted. Each field may take a binary value, a range of integer values indicating, for example, a priority ranking of whether a particular load could be interrupted, or any number of bytes needed to represent the status indicator for a respective load. 
     In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 4 , the primary field  144  is 0(1) if the supply of utility service is not (is) delivered to the load, the secondary field  146  is 0(1) when the usage of the utility service is outside of (within) the usage range representation, and the response field  148  is 0(1) if the load may not (may) be interrupted. The response field  148  may be set by a user of the utility, or alternatively a utility service supplier  53 , to make sure that certain loads, such as a furnace for heating or a stove for cooking, may not be interrupted regardless of whether or not the usage is outside of the usage range representation. 
     The control signal field  208  indicates whether or not a control signal, produced by utility service controller  36  shown in  FIG. 1 , is active. For example the control signal field  208  is 0(1) if a control signal is not (is) active to cause a control device  26 ,  28  or  30  to interrupt a supply of utility service to a corresponding load. 
     Once the updated measurement/status records resulting from the processes depicted at  60  in  FIG. 3  are stored in the data storage device  34 , the processor circuit  38  then employs the contents of the status indicator fields  206 , in a look-up table shown generally at  70  in  FIG. 5 . In this embodiment, the look-up table  70  is stored in the data storage device  34 . Alternatively, the look-up table  70  may be stored in the program memory device  42 , the random access memory device  44 , or other appropriate data storage device for example. 
     The look-up table  70  includes rows  72  indicating all possible combinations of status indicators  206  associated with respective loads. To use the look-up table  70  the processor circuit  38  produces a test record as shown generally at  220  in  FIG. 6 , by copying the status indicators  206  for each load into separate fields in a row. 
     For example, in  FIG. 6  the test record  220  gives a representation of a particular combination of status indicators  206  for an electric motor load  164 , a gas stove load  170 , a gas fireplace load  168 , a water faucet load  166  and a gas furnace load  172 . For example, the status indicator  164  for the electric motor has a 1 from the primary field  144  indicating that the electric motor is using electricity supplied by an electric utility, a 1 from the secondary field  146  indicating that the usage of the electric utility is within the corresponding usage range representation, and a 1 from the response field  148  indicating that the load would be interruptible if the utility service usage were outside of the usage range representation. The status indicators  166 - 172  associated with the remaining loads include a set of values  166  representing the status of a faucet using water utility service. In this embodiment, the set has the value  101  and indicates that the faucet is using water outside of the usage range representation, and that the water service to the faucet may be interrupted. Similarly, sets of values  168  and  170  for the fireplace and the stove, respectively, which use the gas utility service are both  100 , indicating that both the fireplace and the stove are using the gas utility service outside of the usage range representation, but the supply of gas is not to be interrupted to these appliances. In addition, a set of values  172  indicates that the gas furnace is using gas within the desired range representation and is not to be shut off. 
     In this embodiment each particular set of values has three status indicators resulting in eight combinations of status. It will be appreciated that more or less status indicators may be used without loss of generality. 
     To use the look-up table  70  shown in  FIG. 5 , the processor circuit  38  searches rows  72  thereof to find a configuration of status indicators  206  matching the configuration in the test record  220  shown in  FIG. 6 . Once a match is found, the processor circuit  38  locates a corresponding control value  152  which contains a sequence of control fields  154 ,  156 ,  158 ,  160 , and  162 , each of which comprises a binary value of 0 or 1 to indicate which, if any, supply of utility service to a corresponding load is to be interrupted. A 0 (1) in a control field indicates that the supply of utility service to the load should (should not) be interrupted. Alternatively, the control fields  154 - 162  may take on any other values indicating, for example, a priority order of which loads to interrupted, or any other labeling or numbering system readable by the processor circuit  38  to manage a plurality of utility services at respective loads. 
     In the embodiments shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , if the configuration of status indicators in the test record  220  is 111100100101110, for example, the corresponding control value  152  in the look-up table  70  sequence is 11101. The 1 in the electric motor control field  162 , stove control field  160 , fireplace control field  158 , and furnace control field  154  indicate that the supply of corresponding utility services to those loads are not to be interrupted, while the 0 in the faucet control field  156  indicates that the supply of water to the faucet should be interrupted. As another example, if the configuration of status indicators in the test record is 101100100101110, the control value sequence is 01101, which indicates that the supply of utility service to the stove, fireplace, and furnace are not to be interrupted, while the supply of utility service to the electric motor and faucet is to be interrupted. 
     The processor circuit  38  causes the control signal generator  40  to produce control signals for use in interrupting the supply or continuing the supply of the utility services to respective loads, in response to the control value sequence which, as seen above, is produced in response to the representation of utility service at the load and the usage range representation. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 2 , once the processor circuit  38  has caused the control signal generator  40  to produce the control signals, the processor circuit directs the transmitter  47  to transmit the control signals to the control devices  26 ,  28 , and/or  30  shown in  FIG. 1  to interrupt the supply of the utility to the respective loads  20 ,  22 , or  24 . In addition, the control signal field  208  in the measurement/status record  200  shown in  FIG. 4  is updated to 1 to indicate that the control signal is active. The communication device  32 , or alternatively the processor circuit  38 , reports at the annunciation device  50  that the control signal is active and the supply of service has been interrupted to the corresponding loads. 
     Control Devices 
     In general, each of the control devices includes a communications device and a utility service interrupter. The communications device is operable to receive a control signal and actuate the utility service interrupter to interrupt the supply of the utility service to the load in response to a control signal. The communications device may simply be a screw terminal on a motorized valve to directly use the control signal to actuate the valve, or may be a relay, transistor, microprocessor, computer, or any other device capable of receiving a control signal. The utility service interrupter may include a switch, a relay, a circuit breaker, a valve, a pneumatic device, a hydraulic device, and/or a motorized device, or generally any mechanism that prevents or restricts the passage of a utility service to a respective load. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , for electric loads such as load  24 , the control device may be used to simply interrupt the supply of the utility to the load. However, since electrical loads can be replaced relatively easily, it is desirable to be able to restore electrical power to an electrical circuit when the load is changed. To do this, a special control device  30  is used and an enhancement to the flowchart  60  shown in  FIG. 3  is made. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , the special control device  30  employs a screw terminal as the communication device  39  and a relay  45  as the utility service interrupter  41 . In this embodiment the relay  45  has a coil  43  which causes first and second wipers  73  and  74  to move in unison to connect the load  24  to supply contacts  75  and  76  or to sense contacts  77  and  78 . In the normal, de-energized state, the load  24  is connected to the supply contacts  75  and  76 . When the control signal is received at the coil  43 , the load  24  is connected to the sense contacts  77  and  78 , which completely isolates the load from the supply for safety, and permits the sense contacts to be used. 
     The enhancement to the flowchart  69  is shown in dotted lines in  FIG. 3 . This enhancement is only used for electrical loads  24  along with the control device  30  shown in  FIG. 7 . The enhancement is invoked after block  66  of the flowchart  60  shown in  FIG. 3 , when it has been determined that the usage of an electric utility service by the electric load  24  is outside of the corresponding usage range, and a control signal has been sent by the control signal generator  40  to the control device  30  shown in  FIG. 7 . The control signal energizes the coil  43  to move the wipers  73  and  74  to cause the load  24  to be disconnected from the supply contacts  75  and  76  and connected to the sense contacts  77  and  78 . The load  24  is thus isolated from the utility service supply. 
     Block  63  then directs the processor circuit  38  to perform a continuity test to test for continuity through the load  24  to detect when a user replaces the load. To do this, the processor circuit  38  directs the utility service controller  36  to send a DC sense signal through the load  24 , using the sense contacts  77  and  78 . The current through the load  24  is sensed by the measurement device  21  which provides a measurement value to the communications device  32  at the utility management apparatus  12  shown in  FIG. 2 . This measurement value is then stored in the measurement field  202  of the measurement/status record  200  shown in  FIG. 4 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  2 , and  4 , the processor circuit  38  monitors the measurement field  202  whenever a 1 is stored in the corresponding control signal field  208  to determine whether or not there is a break in continuity. If the electric load  24  is removed from the circuit, then measurement device  21  measures no current and returns a zero value to the utility management apparatus  12 , indicating a break in continuity. This would occur for example, when a user disconnects the defective or inefficient appliance responsible for using electric utility service outside of its usage range and wishes to replace it with a more efficient appliance. 
     Referring back to  FIGS. 2 ,  3 ,  4 , and  7 , when the load  24  is removed from the circuit, block  65  directs the processor circuit  38  to cause the control signal generator  40  to cease sending the control signal to the control device  30 , which de-energizes the coil  43  of the relay  45  to cause the load to be reconnected to the supply contacts  75  and  76  to receive power from the electric utility service. In addition, block  65  directs the processor circuit  38  to reset the control signal field  208  of the measurement/status record  200  to 0, and block  68  is then executed by the processor circuit to store and report the information provided during the process  60 . Thus, when the user connects a new load, power from the electric utility supply is immediately available to the load. If the user reconnects the old load, the out-of-range condition will once again be detected and the supply of electric utility service will again be interrupted. 
     If at block  63  the processor circuit  38  determines that continuity is still established, that is, the offending load remains connected, then the control signal field  208  is unchanged and the coil  43  of the relay  45  remains energized, keeping the load  24  isolated from the utility service supply. 
     Referring to  FIG. 8 , a control device  79 , according to an alternative embodiment of the invention incorporates both measurement and control functions for electrical loads. In this embodiment the control device  79  includes a processor circuit  80 , a communications device  81 , an I/O device  82  and a utility service interrupter  41  which includes a relay  45  which functions as described in the embodiment shown in  FIG. 7 . 
     In this embodiment, the communications device  81  facilitates two-way communications between the processor circuit  80  and the utility management apparatus  12  shown in  FIG. 1 . The communications device  81  may form part of a Bluetooth® communications system, for example, or may simply be hardwired to the utility management apparatus  12 . The communications device  81  may even be operable to communicate with the utility management apparatus  12  using the internet or a wireless communication device, for example. Communications between the processor circuit  80  and the utility management apparatus  12  may involve the utility management apparatus sending messages to the processor circuit, requesting a measurement from the measurement device  18  and/or continuity sensor  21 , or requesting operation or status of the utility service interrupter  41 , and the processor circuit may send a message back to the utility management apparatus with the representation of the measurement or status of the utility service interrupter. 
     The I/O device  82  is operable to receive signals from the measurement device  18  and a continuity sensor  21 . In addition, the I/O device  82  is operable to provide the continuity sense signal to the load  24  through sense contacts  77  and  78  of the relay  45 , and the coil  43  of the relay is controlled by a signal produced by the I/O device  82 . 
     The processor circuit  80  is operable to communicate with the I/O device  82  to receive a measure of the usage of the utility service by the load  24 , to produce a measurement value representing the usage of the utility service by the load. The measurement value is received from the measurement device  18 , at the I/O device  82 , and is passed to the processor circuit  80 , which in turn produces a representation of the usage of the utility service by the load  24  from the measurement value. The processor circuit  80  then passes the representation to the communication device  81  for transmission back to the utility management apparatus  12 , shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     The control device  79  is used in conjunction with the enhancement to the flowchart shown in  FIG. 3 , but instead of the utility service controller  36  sending a control signal directly to the control device, a message including the control signal is sent. This message is interpreted by the processor circuit  80  and, in response, the processor circuit causes the I/O device  82  to issuer a signal to the relay  45  to energize the coil  43  to facilitate continuity sensing. The processor circuit  80  then executes a routine (not shown) which causes it to continuously or periodically transmit a continuity sense measurement to the utility management apparatus  12  for use in conjunction with the flowchart at the utility management apparatus. 
     In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , the measurement devices  13 ,  14 ,  15 ,  16 ,  17 ,  18 ,  19 , and  21  and the control devices  26 ,  28 , and  30  are shown as individual measurement and control devices, but some may alternatively be coupled together and sold as a unit in a common housing. Similarly, the utility management apparatus  12  and the utility service controller  36  may be housed in a common housing, as in the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , or may be packaged and sold as separate units. 
     Billing 
     In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a billing apparatus for billing a subscriber for utility service usage, shown generally at  90  in  FIG. 9 . The billing apparatus includes a utility service measurement device  92 , a communications device  94 , and a processor circuit  96 . 
     The utility service measurement device  92  measures the utility service usage at a location where the utility service is being used. The utility service measurement device  92  may measure usage of a single utility or a plurality of utilities, and further may comprise a single measurement device or a plurality of measurement devices to produce a measurement or a plurality of measurements of utility usage. The utility service measurement devices may be any or all of the measurement devices  13 ,  14 ,  15 ,  16 ,  17 ,  18 ,  19 , or  21  shown in  FIG. 1 , to measure the usage of gas, water or electricity, or any other utility, for example, or may include utility service inlet devices (not shown). 
     The communication device  94  is operable to receive rate information for the utility service used as measured by the utility service measurement device  92 . Rate information may be provided by a user of the service at a user interface such as a keyboard  99  for example, or may be provided by utility service suppliers  53 . The rate information may be transmitted via the internet  57 , PSTN  52 , a private. network, or any other communications network connecting the rate provider with the communications device  94 , to provide rate information. To do this, the communications device  94  may include a receiver  106  and a transmitter  108 . 
     The processor circuit  96  is operable to apply the rate information received at the communications device  94  to the measurement produced by the utility service measurement device  92  to produce a billing value and to generate a billing signal representing a bill bearing the billing value. The billing signal may be used by an output device  110  or  118  at a subscriber location for producing the bill at the subscriber location, or may be transmitted to a remote location to generator a bill at a remote location. 
     To achieve this functionality, a block of instruction codes, stored in the program memory  98 , is executed to start the billing process. The instruction codes may be provided from any computer readable medium, such as a CD-ROM, or downloaded over the internet  57  from a remote server  120 , for example. A flowchart depicting the billing process provided by the block of instruction codes is shown generally at  100  in  FIG. 10 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 9 and 10 , the process is initiated at block  102 , which directs the utility service measurement device  92  to receive a measure of utility service usage at a location. The measurement may be stored by the processor circuit  96  on a data storage device, which may include the program memory  98 , a random access memory  109 , or a disk drive, for example. 
     Block  104  then directs the communication device  94  to receive rate information from the rate provider. For example, the communications device  94  may establish communications with the server  120 , and cause a rate request to be transmitted to the server. The server  120  may be a remote server, such as a server located at a utility service supplier for example, or may be located at a subscriber&#39;s location or any other location that provides the rate information to a subscriber of the utility. 
     The receiver  106  of the communications device  94  receives the requested rate information from the server  120  and once the rate information is received, block  112  directs the processor circuit  96  to produce the billing value from the measurement values and the rate information for the corresponding utility measured. The processor circuit  96  applies the rate information to the measurement of utility usage to produce the billing value. The billing value may represent costs for utility service usage of a single utility service or a plurality of utility services. The processor circuit  96  may produce the billing value, for example, by multiplying the kilowatt-hours of utility used by a rate per kilowatt-hour, or by multiplying the volume of water or gas used by an appropriate billing rate. 
     Block  114  then directs the processor circuit  96  to produce a billing signal from the billing value. The billing signal may contain the measurement value of usage of the utility service, a start time period for the measurement, a time duration period of the measurement, and/or identification numbers identifying the user and/or the supplier of the utility service, for example. The billing signal may be a voltage signal in the range of 0-10V, for example, or may be a message encoded in a TCP/IP protocol operable to be sent over a communications network such as the internet  57 , for example, to a remote location. In this embodiment, the processor circuit  96  transmits the billing signal to an output device such as a monitor  110 , a printer  118 , or any other output device responsive to the billing signal for annunciating the billing value. 
     An example of a bill produced at the output device  110  or a printer  118  is shown generally at  121  in  FIG. 11 . In this embodiment, the bill  121  includes various portions identifying the details of utility usage. For example, a utility field  122  identifies the utility supplier, and a user display portion  124  identifies information pertaining to the user of the utilities. The user display portion  124  may contain a site field  126  identifying the location of utility usage, and name  128 , address  130 , and account number  132  fields of a subscriber of the utility service. A consumption field  134  may present the total usage amount of the utility used between dates specified in a duration period field  136 . A rate area  138  may present a rate or a compendium of rates used to calculate the bill amount, and a charge area  140  may present charges for the utility service used. The charge area may list the amount due, due date, and gross charges for utilities used plus additional surcharges, such as tax or connection charges, for example. Other types of display formats may be used which present similar information in any appropriate display format. While specific embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated such embodiments should be considered illustrative of the invention only and not as limiting the invention as construed in accordance with the accompanying claims.