Patent ID: 7231280

Claim:
A dynamic power control system for a power network, comprising: a plurality of switchable power nodes, each comprising a switch element that operates in a first state to electrically couple a first subset of a plurality of power lines and a second subset of said plurality of power lines and that operates in a second state to electrically isolate said first subset of said plurality of power lines from said second subset of said plurality of power lines, and a switch actuator that actuates said switch element to a switch state, said switch state comprising one of said first state, said second state, and zero or more additional states; and a control function which receives utility information that is associated with one of a plurality of switch state configurations, each of said plurality of switch state configurations comprising a predetermined switch state for each of said plurality of switchable power nodes, and actively selects which, if any, of said switchable power nodes requires a change in its respective switch state in order to comply with said switch state configuration associated with said received utility information, and effects actuation of said respective switch actuators, if any, of said selected switchable power nodes to comply with said respective switch state configuration associated with said received utility information.