Patent ID: 8606421

Claim:
A method of forecasting energy usage for a production facility, the method comprising: obtaining, by a control module, meter data and production data over a first time period to determine energy usage rates during a production period, a non-production period, and a weekend/holiday non-production period; predicting, by the control module, an amount of energy (T e ) required for a target year period using the equation: T e = [ ( N v JPH ) × e p ] + [ ( ( 365 - N wd ) × 24 - ( N v JPH ) ) × e np ] + [ N wd × 24 × e npw ] , wherein N v is a number of estimated items to be produced in the target year period at the production facility, JPH is a number of items produced per hour, N wd is a total number of weekend days and holiday days in the target year period, e p is an energy use in one production hour during the production period, e np is an energy use in one non-production hour during the non-production period, and e npw is an energy use in one non-production hour during the weekend/holiday non-production period; and pre-purchasing a first amount of energy for the production facility, wherein the first amount of energy is based on the predicted amount of energy (T e ).