Patent ID: 8766491

Claim:
A load control apparatus for use with an electrical distribution system by which a utility supplies electricity to one or more pieces of equipment at a plurality of utility's customer's location, each piece of equipment placing an electrical load on the system when it is operating, said load control apparatus for connection to the pieces of equipment for controlling the shedding of electrical load placed on the system by the respective pieces of equipment, said load control apparatus comprising: a power sensor for connection to a piece of equipment and sensing when electricity is being supplied to the piece of equipment; a load control logic device responsive to inputs from the sensor for determining a usage profile indicative of the electricity usage of the piece of equipment, said usage profile being characterized over successive periods of time comprising a total characterization; and a load control switch for shutting OFF electricity to the piece of equipment, said load control switch controlled by the load control logic device; wherein, during occurrence of a load control event in which load on the system must be shed, at least one of the following: the load control logic device controls the switch to shed load as a function of the usage profile and as a function of a predefined subinterval for defining the beginning of the predetermined interval thereby providing for diversification in the aggregate load control behavior of the apparatus as compared to other apparatus having a different predefined subinterval for defining the beginning of the predetermined interval; the load control logic device controls the switch to shed the load as a function of the usage profile and as a function of the order of the switch cycling; and the load control logic device controls the switch to shed load as a function of the usage profile and as a function of at least one predefined period of time during which the load control switch shuts OFF electricity to the piece of equipment thereby allowing for reduction in potential peaking of loads, cyclical or non-cyclical, during the load control event, so that the shedding is insulated from changes in the load usage profile of the piece of equipment, and so that other pieces of equipment having at least one different predefined period of time for shutting OFF electricity would start shedding their loads at the at least one different period of time.