Patent ID: 8457803

Claim:
An apparatus for controlling peak demand of an energy resource, the apparatus comprising: a plurality of energy consuming devices, each consuming a portion of the energy resource when turned on, and said each capable of performing a corresponding function to maintain a corresponding local environment within an acceptable operational margin by cycling on and off; and a plurality of control nodes, each coupled to a corresponding one of said plurality of energy consuming devices, wherein said plurality of control nodes is coupled together via a demand coordination network, and wherein said plurality of control nodes coordinates run times for said each of said plurality of energy consuming devices to reduce the peak demand of the energy resource, and wherein coordination of said run times includes advancing a first one or more of a plurality of start times, deferring a second one or more of said plurality of start times, and increasing one or more of a plurality of duty cycles of said energy consuming devices, and wherein the coordination is based on a replica copy of a global run time schedule and one or more sets of descriptors each characterizing an associated one or more corresponding local environments, and wherein the coordination of said run times allows for operation of one or more of said plurality of energy consuming devices within said acceptable operating margin for said corresponding local environments.