Patent ID: 7716012

Claim:
A method of aggregating monitoring devices and sensors in a utility system into one or more groups, comprising: receiving at time intervals device data measured by each of said monitoring devices; determining how said monitoring devices are linked together in a hierarchy to produce data representing said hierarchy; responsive to said producing said data representing said hierarchy, identifying a first of said monitoring devices that is connected to and directly monitoring a first load in said utility system and a second of said monitoring devices that is connected to and directly monitoring a second load in said utility system; determining whether a first correlation coefficient exceeds a threshold value, said first correlation coefficient being calculated from said device data measured by said first monitoring device and from said device data measured by said second monitoring device; if said first correlation coefficient exceeds said threshold value, grouping said first device and said second device into a first group as being mutually related to a common process in said utility system; and storing in a memory a representation of said first group.