Patent ID: 8396606

Claim:
A utility that provides electrical service to one or more remotely located service points, each service point including at least one device that consumes power during operation thereof, the utility comprising: a repository; and at least one processor coupled to the repository, the at least one processor operable to: determine amounts of electric power consumed by the at least one device during at least one period of time to produce power consumption data; store the power consumption data in the repository; determine that a control event is to occur during which a supply of electric power is to be reduced to the at least one device; estimate, prior to commencement of the control event and under an assumption that the control event is not to occur, power consumption behavior expected of the at least one device for a first period of time based at least on the stored power consumption data, wherein the control event is expected to occur during the first period of time; determine, prior to commencement of the control event, projected energy savings resulting from the control event based at least on the estimated power consumption behavior of the at least one device; and determine, prior to commencement of the control event, an amount of available operating reserve based on the projected energy savings.