BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1 Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the provision and billing of utility services to customers' residential and commercial facilities. More particularly, the invention concerns a system for providing utility services such as electrical power, and billing them to customers independent of the normal utility provider.

2. Description of the Related Art

Electrical power is produced by a variety of different means today. In addition to nuclear and hydroelectric generators, many power plants employ boilers and steam turbine generators powered by hydrocarbons such as natural gas, oil, and the like. Power plants are operated by electricity generation companies, also known as “electricity service providers.” This raw electrical power is commonly processed by transformers to increase its voltage, for transmission purposes. Then, an “electric power transmission company” transmits the electricity over various long distances using large power distribution circuits supported by appropriate towers, poles, and other suspension means. This process is commonly called “wheeling.” Electricity ultimately passes to a switchyard, which in turn passes the electricity to a local substation. At the substation, and then at local transformers near where electricity will be used, the electricity is lowered to a safe voltage for homes and businesses, such as two-hundred-twenty volts and one-hundred-ten volts and then delivered to the customer. Regardless of which electricity service provider originally generated the power, electricity flows from the substation to the customer under control of an “electricity distribution company” who typically owns the local power lines and distribution equipment.

At a customer's premises, there is an electricity meter, which measures power utilization in appropriate units such as kilowatts. The meter is interposed between transmission lines emanating from the local substation's distribution transformer and a circuit “breaker box” where electricity first enters the customer's premises. Field employees of the electricity distribution company periodically read the local meters, which measure power in suitable units such as kilowatt-hours. Ultimately, these readings are used to generate the customers' electricity bills.

The foregoing arrangement has been used successfully for some time, and enjoys considerable, widespread success. Accordingly, this power distribution scheme is likely to continue for years to come. Nonetheless, the present inventor has reassessed this arrangement with an eye toward uncovering any limitations and making appropriate improvements. In this respect, the present inventor has recognized that this arrangement may not be particularly well suited to certain users, such as residential customers of lower incomes, for the following reasons. First, a customer with weak credit references might have difficulty initially establishing an account with the electricity distribution company. Furthermore, it may be difficult or even impossible for the customer to establish an account if the customer has previously had power turned off due to nonpayment.

For customers without electrical power, there may be numerous undesirable, unsafe, or even dangerous results, such as the unavailability of heat during cold winter months, inability to properly refrigerate perishable foods, and lack of lighting sufficient to prevent crime and navigate through dark households. If the customer can ultimately overcome the financial hurdles, there is the additional potential inconvenience of having to wait several days for a field employee of the electricity distribution company to arrive at the customer's residence and turn on the power. Consequently, due to the previously discussed situations along with other unsolved problems, the known arrangement for providing and billing for electrical power is not completely adequate for all customers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Broadly, the present invention concerns a power metering apparatus with an activation feature that selectively provides power to a residential or commercial electrical facility depending upon whether the customer has made prepayment or other sufficient arrangements to purchase electricity. The power metering apparatus is inserted between an electricity distribution company's meter and a suitable location of customer's electric system, such as the breaker box. An intermediate entity, called a “power interagent” or “utility interagent,” makes appropriate financial and other arrangements for continued delivery of electrical power from the electricity distribution company to the customer. This may involve, for example, establishing an ongoing account with the electricity generation, transmission, and/or distribution companies for the provision of electricity to the customer's electrical facilities, where the power interagent is responsible for payment. Whenever the customer wishes to have electric power available, the customer submits prepayments or other suitable payment assurances to the power interagent. Prepayments may be made by various means, such as (1) purchasing a magnetic, optical, or “smart” circuit card and locally presenting the card to the power metering apparatus, or (2) providing advance payment or payment assurances to the power interagent via telephone, internet, physical mail (such as U.S. Postal Service, express delivery, courier, etc.), personal delivery, e-mail, or another suitable means. Whereupon the power interagent sends machine-readable notification of the prepayment to the metering apparatus via telephone modem, digital subscriber line (“DSL”) modem, cable modem, wireless, or other conveyance means. Ultimately, the power metering apparatus activates or deactivates depending upon whether the customer has made sufficient prepayments. Although the invention contemplates customers' advance payment for power, the power interagent may accept other advance guaranty or payment arrangements that are herein referred to as “prepayment.” The metering apparatus may also initiate communications to the power interagent to report power usage statistics to the power interagent.

In addition to electrical power, the present invention may also be implemented in the context of other services, such as natural gas, water, telephone, cable television, etc. However, for ease of discussion, the example of electrical power is used throughout the present description as a brief example.

In one embodiment, the invention may be implemented to provide a method to operate a prepaid power metering system, or a method of doing business by providing electrical power to customers on a prepaid basis. In another embodiment, the invention may be implemented to provide a prepaid power metering system or similar apparatus. In yet another embodiment, the invention may be implemented to provide a signal-bearing medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital data processing apparatus to operate a prepaid power metering apparatus. Another embodiment concerns logic circuitry having multiple interconnected electrically conductive elements configured to operate a prepaid power metering apparatus.

The invention affords its users a number of distinct advantages. With this invention, for example, customers can quickly obtain electrical power for their houses. Customers need not wait for the electricity distribution company to activate an account and dispatch a field employee to the customer's premises to start power. This invention utilizes remotely controllable equipment to selectively enable or disable electrical power, where this equipment is installed at the customer's house. Thus, the power interagent can immediately enable power whenever the customer makes an appropriate prepayment for electrical power. Thus interrupted service may be restored promptly upon payment. The invention affords customers with a number of convenient ways to make prepayment to the power interagent. The customer can authorize debits to a credit card or bank account over the telephone, submit credit card payment or bank debit authorization via e-mail or internet web site operated by the power interagent, submit funds by wire transfer, or submit a check or credit card payment by physical mail (such as U.S. Postal Service, express delivery, courier, etc.), personal delivery, or another means. According to another prepayment technique, the customer can purchase a convenient-card containing a fixed amount of “e-kilowatt-hours” or “e-funds.”

Another advantage of this invention is that it enables customers with low income or poor credit histories to easily obtain electrical power. To the power metering apparatus of this invention, a customer's credit history or income is irrelevant so long as the customer makes sufficient payment arrangements, such as paying for electrical power in advance. As still another advantage, the customer may enjoy cost savings obtained by the power interagent's wheeling of power.

From the perspective of the power interagent, a number of benefits exist as well. For example, customer payments are made by suitably reliable means such as bank account debit, credit cards, and prepayment, thereby avoiding potential losses by uncollected accounts receivable. Furthermore, the power interagent may negotiate low rates on purchases from power suppliers with substantial spreads between purchase and sales prices, thereby increasing profit. The invention also provides a number of other advantages and benefits, which should be apparent from the following description of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1

is a block diagram of the overall hardware components and interconnections of a prepaid power metering system according to the invention.

FIG. 2

is a block diagram of the hardware components and interconnections of an exemplary payment domain according to the invention.

FIG. 3

is a block diagram of the hardware components and interconnections of a user information domain according to the invention.

FIG. 4A

is a block diagram of a digital data processing machine according to the invention.

FIG. 4B

shows an exemplary signal-bearing medium according to the invention.

FIG. 5

is a flowchart of a sequence for establishing and then providing prepaid power service.

FIG. 6

is a flowchart of a sequence for operating the prepaid power metering apparatus of the invention.

FIG. 7

is a flowchart of an operational sequence for customer prepayment by local use of or payment card according to the invention.

FIG. 8

is a flowchart of an operational sequence for customer prepayment by contacting the prepaid power interagent, according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The nature, objectives, and advantages of the invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the following detailed description in connection with the accompanying drawings.

HARDWARE COMPONENTS & INTERCONNECTIONS

Overall Structure

One aspect of the invention concerns a prepaid power metering apparatus, which may be embodied by various hardware components and interconnections.

FIG. 1

shows one exemplary construction, in the form of the prepaid power metering apparatus

106

. As discussed more particularly below, the apparatus

106

is embodied by various circuitry and other hardware that measures and selectively dispenses electrical power to a customer's residential building, commercial building, remote electrical site (such as an antenna, oil pump jack, etc.), or other “electrical facility”

109

requiring electrical power. The apparatus

106

derives electrical power from a power source

102

such as transmission lines of an electricity distribution company. Accordingly, the apparatus

106

is electrically interposed between the electricity distribution company's facilities and the customer's property.

As a more particular example, as shown in

FIG. 1

, the apparatus

106

may be attached between the following components: (1) a circuit breaker box

108

or other inlet to the customer's electrical facility

109

, and (2) the electricity distribution company's meter

104

. (The meter

104

, as an example, may comprise a watt-hour meter used to measure electric power in kilowatt hours. Although the present description is made in terms of electrical power, ordinarily skilled artisans, having the benefit of this disclosure, will recognize that this disclosure also applies to other utility services such as natural gas, water, telephone, cable television, and the like, whether measured in terms of time, consumption volume, or another property. In the case of utility services without a utility meter (such as telephone), the apparatus

106

may be inserted at a convenient and appropriate location between the customer's facility and the utility company's delivery lines, such as electrical lines, copper cable television line, water pipes, telephone lines, etc.

The apparatus

106

conveys electricity from the'source

102

to the customer via a power path that; as illustrated, includes a mode switch

105

, input surge protector

110

, frequency filter

111

, power saver

112

, switch

114

, local meter

116

, and output surge protector

118

. The switch

114

operates under direction of the controller

120

according to various input received from a payment domain

122

and user information domain

124

.

Mode Switch

If desired to provide additional flexibility in use, the apparatus

106

may optionally include an externally selectable mode switch

105

. The mode switch

105

includes three settings, including (1) “off,” where the switch

105

prevents power source

102

electricity from flowing to the breaker box

108

, (2) “shunt” or “flow through,” where the switch

105

conducts electricity along a path

107

directly to the breaker box

108

, circumventing the prepaid power metering apparatus

106

, and (3) “metering enabled,” where the mode switch

105

directs electricity through the power metering apparatus

106

. Although the mode switch may be implemented in many different ways,

FIG. 1

illustrates one example. The illustrated mode switch

105

connects an arm

105

c

to a first node

105

a

to implement the “shunt” setting, or alternatively connects the arm

105

c

to a second node

105

b

to implement the “metering enabled” setting. When the arm

105

c

is not connected to either node

105

a

-

105

b

, it occupies an intermediate- no-connect setting to implement the “off” setting.

The mode switch

105

provides added flexibility in operating the prepaid power metering apparatus

106

. As an example, line employees of the electricity distribution company may manually activate the switch

105

by using a specially shaped key, swiping a magnetic security card, entering a PIN code on a keypad, remotely transmitting an activation signal, etc. Thus, the electricity distribution company line employees configure the switch

105

as follows:

1. The switch is placed in the “metering enabled” mode when the power interagent has arranged for power delivery, as explained below.

2. The switch is placed in the “shunt” mode when the customer has arranged for power delivery, electing not to use the power interagent's services.

3. The switch is placed in the “off” setting when the power interagent. The customer fails to pay for electrical power.

Power Path

As mentioned above, the apparatus

106

conveys electricity from the source

102

to the customer via the mode switch

105

, input surge protector

110

, frequency filter

111

, power saver

112

, switch

114

, local meter

116

, and output surge protector

118

. The (optional) input surge protector

110

comprises a varistor, active surge protection circuitry, electromagnetic surge device, spark gap device, or other component(s) to prevent damage to the apparatus

106

from transient voltage and/or currents supplied by the power source

102

, and also to prevent unwanted signals from being fed back to the power source

102

. The (optional) frequency filter

111

removes any communication frequency generated by the telecommunication interface

204

from entering the power source

102

. The (optional) power saver

112

comprises, singularly or in tandem, one or more of the following: a suitable chopper, switching device, shunt, time domain device, frequency altering device, or other circuitry to condition the input electric power for more efficient and cost-saving use by the customer.

Under direction of the controller

120

, the switch

114

is operable to selectively enable or disable power conveyance to the customer, depending upon whether the switch is “on” or “off.” As an example, the switch

114

may comprise a MOSFET, Triac, SCR, Diac, or another suitable component to selectively pass or block electrical power on the order of 20 to 200 amps and 120 volts or multiples thereof, such as 220, 440, 660 volts, etc. The local meter

116

tracks electric power delivered through the apparatus

106

. Although the local meter

116

may be implemented in various ways, some examples include a solid state RMS power measurement device, digital signal processor based computation device, etc. Some suitable products are commercially sold by companies such as Schlumberger, General Electrics, Johnson Controls, Siemens, and the like. The local meter

116

is coupled to the controller

120

, enabling the controller

120

to monitor current power usage by the customer's electrical facility

109

, and also to track the customer's usage history.

The (optional) output surge protector

118

may employ similar components as the input surge protector

110

. In contrast to the input surge protector

110

, the output surge protector

118

protects the customer's electrical facilities

109

, from transient voltages and/or currents that may arise from components of the apparatus

106

, such as the switch

114

or power saver

112

, while also protecting the apparatus

106

from activity occurring in the electrical facilities

109

.

Controller

As mentioned previously, the switch

114

is operated under direction of the controller

120

. In this respect, the controller

120

may comprise a microprocessor or other data processing apparatus, logic circuit, configuration of discrete circuit elements, or other electrical component capable of supplying electrical signals to activate and deactivate the switch

114

. As a specific example, the controller

120

may be implemented by a Z8 microcontroller. The controller

120

may optionally be coupled to a power storage device

128

such as a battery, capacitor, and the like, to provide backup power to the controller

120

in case a wall outlet or other primary supply (not shown) of power for the apparatus

106

is disrupted. The controller

120

may also include a real-time clock (not shown) to track the date and time of day. This clock may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of both.

The controller

120

is coupled to a diagnostic interface

126

, which is operable by a technician for the purpose of diagnosing and rectifying any operational problems with the apparatus

106

. Additionally, the interface

126

may be used to reprogram the controller

120

to implement upgrades, improvements, or other software changes. The diagnostic interface

126

includes one or more of the following interface components: LCD or other visual display panel, keypad, array of light-emitting diodes, assembly of switches, serial or parallel port, electric coupling, amplifier, etc.

In addition to the diagnostic interface

126

, the controller

120

is attached to a payment domain

122

and a user information domain

124

. Broadly, the payment domain

122

receives notification that the user has prepaid for electricity, and also specifies the amount of the prepurchase. The user information domain

124

presents various information to the customer about the customer's power usage. The domains

122

,

124

are described below in greater detail.

Payment Domain

FIG. 2

shows one exemplary implementation of the payment domain

122

in greater detail. The payment domain

122

includes a card reader

202

to receive prepayment notification directly from the customer. As a specific example, the card reader

202

may comprise a magnetic card reader that is operated by the customer presenting a magnetic card to the reader. Such presentation may be achieved by swiping the card through a card-reading channel, waving the card past a magnetic panel, inserting the card into an ATM-style slot that grasps and withdraws the card into card reading hardware, etc. Although magnetic means are discussed as one example, the card may bear data in other forms, such as measured electrical resistance or impedance, semiconductor memory (e.g., ROM, EPROM, or EEPROM), “smart” card with on-board electronics, optical storage (e.g., holographic, digital optical, etc.), paper “punch” cards, or other suitable data storage means. The card reader

202

translates the machine-readable data carried by the card into digital electrical data signals or other format compatible with the controller

120

.

In addition to the card reader

202

, which receives prepayment notification directly from the customer, the payment domain

122

includes a telecommunications interface

204

to receive machine-readable notification of the customer's prepayment from the power interagent. As illustrated, the interface

204

may receives this notification directly from a telephone line (via telephone connection

206

), directly from a cable line (via cable connection

208

), or indirectly from the telephone line or cable line via a local RF link

210

. In this example, the telephone line comprises a voice telephone line, which may be provided by a local telephone company. The cable line comprises a coaxial copper cable television line, which may be provided by a cable television company. Prepayment notification may arrive at the interface

204

through other means if desired, such as RF or other completely wireless transmission.

The local RF link

210

comprises a radio frequency (“RF”) link between the telephone line and/or cable line and the telecommunications interface

204

, giving the customer considerable flexibility is positioning the apparatus

106

, regardless of the positions of telephone and/or cable wall outlets. Although the RF bandwidth is given as one example, the link

210

may utilize sonic, ultrasonic, infrared, or other frequencies without departing from the scope of this invention. The link

210

includes a transmitter/receiver pair (not separately shown). The transmitter, placed at the wall outlet, converts signals from the telephone line and/or cable line into a suitable RF format and transmits the resultant signals to the receiver, which translates these RF signals into digital electrical signals or another format compatible with the interface

204

. Transmission by the link

210

occurs through a medium

211

, which may assume various forms. As one example, the transmission medium

211

may be the air, in the case of wireless transmission. As another example, the transmission medium

211

may comprise household electrical wiring, in which event the link's transmitter and receiver are both coupled to different household wall outlets. As one example, the local RF link

210

may utilize spread spectrum, electromagnetic signals. Even though the link's transmission may be introduced into the household electrical wiring, the frequency filter

111

prevents these signals from entering the power source

102

and possibly traveling to other electrical customers.

The interface

204

includes appropriate circuitry to convert machine-readable signals received from the telephone connection

206

, link

210

, and cable connection

208

into digital electrical data signals or other suitable format for use by the controller

120

. In the case of the telephone line, for example, the interface

204

may comprise a telephone modem. Likewise, for use with the cable line, the interface

204

may comprise a cable modem.

Although not shown, other input sources may also be used, such as a T1 connection, ISDN line, digital or analog cellular link, fiber optics, digital subscriber line (“DSL”), wireless radio, satellite link, etc. In each case, the telecommunications interface

204

comprises circuitry appropriate to the input source's particular spectrum and signal format.

In addition to the input function described previously, the components of the payment domain may also transmit information from the controller

120

to remotely located sites, as discussed in greater detail below.

User Information Domain

FIG. 3

shows the user information domain

124

in greater detail. The user information domain

124

includes various devices that present power usage statistics to the customer. These statistics are computed by the controller

120

, as discussed in greater detail below. As illustrated, the user information domain devices include various visual displays

300

and audio indicators

308

.

The visual displays may utilize a variety of different technologies, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), liquid crystal displays (LCDs), cathode ray tubes (CRTs), mechanically operated displays, etc. The visual displays

300

include a “power-used” component

302

, showing the amount of power that the customer has used. This amount may be shown in Watts or kilowatt-hours, for example. The displays

300

also include a “time-remaining” component

304

, showing the amount of time remaining before the customer exhausts the remaining prepaid power (at the current, average rate of power usage by the customer's electrical facility

109

). The displays

300

may also include other components

306

to show additional information about prepayment and power usage.

The audio indicators

308

provide audible notification of certain events, such as those that would assist the customer to avoid power outage. For instance, the audio indicators may sound an alarm at certain prescribed times before power outage, such as twenty-four hours, twelve hours, six hours, three hours, one hour, and zero hours. To provide some examples, the audio indicators

308

may comprise electrically activated beepers, bells, horns, speakers, whistles, or other noise makers. The audio indicators

308

may include one or more loudspeakers to generate a different sounds having greater variety or user friendliness, such as music, human voices, etc. The audio indicators,

308

may be located with the other circuitry of the apparatus

106

, or placed in remote locations that are especially likely to be heard by the customer.

Exemplary Digital Data Processing Apparatus

Another aspect of the invention concerns a digital data processing apparatus, which may be used to implement the controller

120

. This apparatus may be embodied by various hardware components and interconnections; one example is the digital data processing apparatus

400

of FIG.

4

A. The apparatus

400

includes a processor

402

, such as a microprocessor, digital signal processor, or other processing machine, coupled to a storage

404

. In the present example, the storage

404

includes a fast-access storage

406

, as well as nonvolatile storage

408

. The fast-access storage

406

may comprise random access memory (“RAM”), and may be used to store the programming instructions executed by the processor

402

. The nonvolatile storage

408

may comprise, for example, one or more nonvolatile data storage devices such as a magnetic “hard drive”, a tape drive, or any other suitable storage device. The apparatus

400

also includes an input/output

410

, such as a line, bus, cable, electromagnetic link, or other means for the processor

402

to exchange data with other hardware external to the apparatus

400

.

Despite the specific foregoing description, ordinarily skilled artisans (having the benefit of this disclosure) will recognize that the apparatus discussed above may be implemented in a machine of different construction, without departing from the scope of the invention. As a specific example, one of the components

406

,

408

may be eliminated; furthermore, the storage

404

may be provided on-board the processor

402

, or even provided externally to the apparatus

400

.

As another example, the apparatus

400

may be formed of a semiconductor chip where all processing and data storage components are partitioned into various parts within a single memory device, such as a central processing unit.

Logic Circuitry

In contrast to the digital data storage apparatus discussed previously, a different embodiment of the invention uses logic circuitry instead of computer-executed instructions. Depending upon the particular requirements of the application in the areas of speed, expense, tooling costs, and the like, this logic may be implemented by constructing an application-specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”) having thousands of tiny integrated transistors. Such an ASIC may be implemented with CMOS, biCMOS, TTL, VLSI, or another suitable construction. Other alternatives include a digital signal processing chip (“DSP”), discrete circuitry (such as resistors, capacitors, diodes, inductors, and transistors), field programmable gate array (“FPGA”), electrically programmable logic device (“EPLD”), programmable logic array (“PLA”), and the like.

Operation

In addition to the various hardware embodiments described above, a different aspect of the invention concerns a method for providing electrical power to customers on a prepaid basis.

Signal-Bearing Media

In the context of

FIGS. 1-4A

, such a method may be implemented, for example, by operating the controller

120

, as embodied by a digital data processing apparatus

400

, to execute a sequence of machine-readable instructions. These instructions may reside in various types of signal-bearing media. In this respect, one aspect of the present invention concerns a programmed product, comprising signal-bearing media tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital data processor to provide electrical power to customers on a prepaid basis.

This signal-bearing media may comprise, for example, RAM (not shown) included in the controller

120

, as represented by the fast-access storage

406

. Alternatively, the instructions may be contained in another signal-bearing media, such as a magnetic data storage diskette

450

(FIG.

4

B), directly or indirectly accessible by the processor

402

. Whether contained in the storage

406

, diskette

450

, or elsewhere, the instructions may be stored on a variety of machine-readable data storage media, such as direct access storage (e.g., a conventional “hard drive”, redundant array of inexpensive disks (“RAID”), or another direct access storage device (“DASD”)), magnetic tape, electronic memory (e.g., ROM, flash memory, EPROM, or EEPROM), optical storage (e.g., CD-ROM, WORM, DVD, digital optical tape), paper “punch” cards, or other suitable signal-bearing media including transmission media such as digital and analog and communication links and wireless. In an illustrative embodiment of the invention, the machine-readable instructions may comprise software object code, compiled from a language such as “C,” etc.

Logic Circuitry

In contrast to the signal-bearing medium discussed above, the method aspect of the invention may be implemented using logic circuitry, without using a processor to execute instructions. In this embodiment, the logic circuitry is implemented in the controller

120

, and is configured to perform operations to implement the method of the invention. The logic circuitry may be implemented using many different types of circuitry, as discussed above.

Operational Sequences

FIGS. 5-8

show various exemplary operating sequences to illustrate the method aspects of the invention in greater detail. For ease of explanation, but without any intended limitation, the examples of

FIGS. 5-8

are described in the context of the specific apparatus

106

described above (FIGS.

1

-

3

).

The sequence

500

(

FIG. 5

) provides an overall view of the process for establishing and then providing prepaid power service. The sequence

600

(

FIG. 6

) shows an exemplary process for operating the prepaid power metering apparatus

106

. The sequence

700

(

FIG. 7

) illustrates customer prepayment by local use of a payment card. The sequence

800

(

FIG. 8

) illustrates customer prepayment by contacting the power interagent and providing appropriate payment authorization.

Establishing/Providing Power

As mentioned above, the sequence

500

(

FIG. 5

) provides an overall view of the process for establishing and then providing prepaid power service. Referring to

FIG. 5

, the sequence

500

begins in step

502

. In step

504

, agents of the power interagent arrange for delivery of electricity to the customer's electrical facility

109

. Although the details of this step may vary according to the regulatory climate and effective laws, one embodiment involves the power interagent contracting with the electricity distribution company for power service. In a deregulated power market, the power interagent may request power generated by an electricity service provider other than the electricity distribution company.

As still another possibility, the power interagent may purchase power from a power generator that “wheels” power to the customer's electrical facility. By “wheeling” power, the power interagent can purchase power at a substantial discount, and pass significant savings to the customer. These savings can be shared with customers to make the power metering apparatus

106

more desirable for those customers, while enhancing profit for the power interagent. For ease of reference, the term “electricity supplier” is utilized to include the possibilities of electricity distribution company, electricity service provider, source of “wheeled” power, unified power commission, or any other source of electrical power.

Whether it obtains wheeled power or not, the power interagent may also achieve discounted electrical power by entering into long-term contracts with electricity suppliers. Advantageously, the power metering apparatus

106

enables the power interagent to assume long term responsibility for payment of power consumed by the facility

109

regardless of changes in the customer from time to time, fluctuations in power usage, and other variables.

The arrangement of step

504

may be implemented in many different ways. Some examples include establishing an open account, pre-authorizing periodic billing, posting a deposit or other acceptable form of security with the electricity supplier. After making this advance arrangement with the electricity supplier, the power interagent proceeds to pay the electricity supplier for power that is consumed at the customer's electrical facility, as measured by the power company meter

104

.

After step

504

, the power interagent installs the power metering apparatus

106

at the customer's electrical facility

109

. Namely, the apparatus

106

is electrically inserted between the power company meter

104

and the customer's breaker box

108

. If desired, the apparatus

106

may be placed at another location upstream of the customer's facility

109

, such as between the breaker box

108

and the customer's electrical facility

109

. The apparatus

106

may also operate between the power source

102

and the power company meter

104

, although these electrical lines are typically owned by the electricity distribution company and not amenable to modification.

Also in step

506

, the telephone line connector

206

is attached to the customer's telephone line. Alternatively, or in addition, the cable line connector

208

may be attached to the customer's cable connection. If desired, the local wireless link

210

may be installed by connecting it to telephone and/or cable lines. After the apparatus

106

is installed as described above, the apparatus

106

is powered-up and one or more diagnostic tests are run using the interface

126

. When the apparatus

106

is operating properly, installation is complete.

After step

506

, the power metering apparatus

106

in step

508

operates according to the sequence described below (FIG.

6

). Simultaneously, the customer prepays for electrical service in step

510

, as described in greater detail below (FIGS.

7

-

8

).

Operation of Power Metering Apparatus

As mentioned above, the sequence

600

(

FIG. 6

) shows an exemplary process for operating the prepaid power metering apparatus

106

. Referring to

FIG. 6

, the sequence

600

begins in step

602

. In step

604

, the prepaid power metering apparatus

106

boots up. This may occur, for example, when the apparatus

106

is initially “turned on,” or when the apparatus

106

is re-booted using the diagnostic interface

126

. Boot-up may involve a number of system integrity checks, for example. In step

605

, the controller

120

computes and outputs appropriate statistics to the user information domain

124

. In the illustrated example, the controller

120

makes the following computations:

1. The amount of power used by the customer for display by the power-used

302

component. In the present example, the power usage is computed from the customer's very first use of the power metering apparatus

106

, although other appropriate times may be used as a beginning point for this computation.

2. The customer's remaining power balance. This is the amount of power that has been “prepaid,” through advance payment or sufficient payment-assurances. The power balance may be expressed in units of time (such as kilowatt-hours of power or hours of cable television) or volumetrically (such as kilowatts of electricity, gallons of water, cubic feet of natural gas, etc.).

3. The customer's average rate of power usage. This is computed by dividing the power-used by the time period over which the power usage has been computed. The average rate of power usage may be provided in kilowatts per hour or other appropriate units, for example.

4. The estimated time-remaining before power is turned off. This is calculated by dividing the customer's remaining power balance by the customer's average rate of power usage.

5. Whether there has been occurrence of any determined events associated with purchase events, continuous operation notifications, or near term termination possibilities such as twenty-four, twelve, six, three, one, or zero hours before power outage.

Also in step

605

, the controller

120

outputs the statistics, where appropriate, to the user information domain

124

. For example, the controller

120

provides the amount of power used to the display

302

, and the time-remaining to the display

304

. Additionally in step

605

, the controller

120

may employ the communication components of the payment domain

122

, normally used to receive external payment notification from the power interagent, to transmit various statistics back to the power interagent. For example, step

605

may transmit some or all of the recently computed output statistics, historical power use information, data concerning the customer's payment for power by local payment card, etc. If the power interagent thereby learns that the customer's power use meets certain criteria, such as impending power outage, the power interagent may transmit an appropriate message to the controller

120

via the components of the payment domain

122

, for ultimate display at the user information domain

124

.

After step

605

, the controller

120

asks whether the customer has made sufficient payments, i.e. payments sufficient to keep the power flowing (step

606

). In particular, the controller

120

determines whether there is a positive balance. In the illustrated example, this information is available from the computations performed in step

605

. If the customer does not have a positive balance, the controller

120

in step

608

commands the switch

14

to turn off (or remain off). In this case, the apparatus

106

does not supply any power to the customer's electrical facility

109

(step

608

). On the other hand, if step

606

finds that the customer has a positive balance, the controller

120

in step

610

instructs the switch

114

to turn on (or remain on).

After step

608

or

610

, the controller

120

checks for the receipt of new or additional prepayment funds (step

612

). This is done by consulting the card reader

202

and telecommunications interface

204

. Alternatively, step

612

may be performed on a hardware interrupt basis, where the card reader

202

and/or telecommunications interface

204

issue a hardware interrupt to the controller

120

whenever new funds are received; in this case, step

612

is omitted.

After step

612

, or steps

608

/

610

if step

612

is omitted, the controller

120

returns to step

605

, where it re-computes and re-outputs the statistics mentioned above. Even in the absence of any new funds, step

605

is still useful because the customer's ongoing power usage changes the power-used and time-remaining statistics. After step

605

, the routine

600

continues as discussed above.

Prepayment by Local Payment Card

Referring to

FIG. 7

, the sequence

700

illustrates customer payment by using a prepayment card. The sequence starts in step

702

. In step

704

, the customer purchases a prepayment card. In one example, this card comprises a plastic, paper, or other card-of convenient size, which bears a magnetic stripe. The magnetic stripe contains machine-readable prepayment information, which comprises an amount of “e-power” (specified in kilowatts or another convenient unit), or an amount of “e-funds” (specified by a dollar amount of the prepurchase). Some alternate embodiments of the prepayment card include optical cards and circuit-equipped “smart” cards.

To ensure convenient availability of power to customers, prepayment cards may be sold at convenience stores, grocery stores, banks, retail stores, or other prepayment outlets. Such outlets initially receive such cards from the power interagent. The cards may be supplied to the prepayment outlets in designated denominations (such as 100, 500, 1,000, and 10,000 kilowatts). Alternatively, the retail outlets may be provided with card programming machinery to individually configure cards with the appropriate prepayment indicia at the time of purchase. The data stored by the prepayment card may be encrypted to reduce the likelihood of customer tampering.

After purchasing the card in step

704

, the customer returns to the customer's home, business, or other site of the electrical facility

109

. In step

706

, the customer locally presents the card to the card reader

202

. With a magnetic card, step

706

may be achieved by swiping the card through a card-reading slot, waving the card past a panel, inserting the card into an ATM-style slot, etc. Step

706

may alternatively be performed by running the card past an optical reader, or various other techniques depending upon the type of card and reader.

Responsive to the customer presenting the prepayment card to the card reader

202

, the controller

120

verifies the card. In one embodiment, each card may have a “one time” read-and-recognize component, and thereafter the card may be (1) discarded, or alternatively (2) returned to a place of purchase for the emplacement of additional power purchase coding. The controller

120

may verify the card by many different techniques, such as analyzing a security code contained on the card to determine whether the code exhibits predetermined, internal, mathematical or logical qualities.

The controller

120

may deduct power from the card in various different ways. For example, the controller

120

may permit the customer to have all power represented on the card immediately deducted (and the card deactivated), or alternatively have power deducted from the card only as long as it is left in the card reader

202

. As one example, the card may be zeroed out if the user inserts then immediately removes the card from the card reader

202

. On the other hand, the card may be decremented according to real time power usage if the customer chooses to leave the card in the reader

202

.

After step

706

, the routine

700

ends in step

708

.

Payment & Notification Via Power Interagent

Referring to

FIG. 8

, the sequence

800

illustrates a different type of customer payment, which occurs when the customer contacts the power interagent and provides appropriate prepayment or payment assurances. The sequence

800

begins in step

802

. In step

804

, the customer contacts the power interagent and provides advance payment or sufficiently reliably payment assurances. For ease of reference, this is referred to as “prepayment”. For the customer's convenience, the customer may perform step

804

in many different ways. For instance, the customer may use one of the following options:

1. Contacting the power interagent via telephone and providing a credit card number to a telephone operator or automated system for the purpose of charging of a fixed amount. If desired, the power interagent may offer a toll-free telephone number for this purpose.

2. Logging into a secure, self-guided internet worldwide web site maintained by the power interagent to accept prepayment by credit card, ATM debit card, etc.

3. Submitting bank or credit card prepayment authorization by e-mail.

4. Submitting “cash” in the form of wire transfer, personal check, cashier's check, currency, or money order to the power interagent in person, or through mail delivery including U.S. Postal Service, express delivery company, courier, etc.

5. Providing payment in person, at an office of the power interagent.

6. Instructing the power interagent to initiate a new credit card in the customer's name. Depending upon the customer's desires, telephone operators of the power interagent may obtain the customer's financial history over the telephone and provide the customer with a credit card. Depending upon the customer's credit history, this process may occur substantially instantaneously, where the power interagent activates the credit card over the telephone and enters the electrical power prepayment as the credit card's very first purchase.

6. Contracting with the power interagent to refinance the customer's loan owed on the electrical facility

109

. The refinancing would occur at a slightly higher percentage rate than the existing mortgage, affording the power interagent some profit. In exchange, the power interagent provides the customer with some amount of electricity. For example, the power interagent may provide (1) an unlimited amount of electricity, (2) a fixed amount of electricity with credit being provided for any under-use or over-use, (3) no-charge electricity up to a fixed amount, or (4) another arrangement. The customer also benefits because from this arrangement for a number of reasons. First, since the customer actually consumes less electricity due to the power saver

112

, and may enjoy additional savings due to the power interagent's power wheeling, the power interagent may only need to increase the customer's mortgage rate by a small amount from what the customer is already paying. Furthermore, as part of the customer's new mortgage, this amount may be tax deductible, whereas the customer's electrical bills would not otherwise be tax deductible.

7. Contracting the power interagent by any means and making suitable payment assurances. For example, authorization may be given for future payment according to the means described above. Also, in the case of reliable, institutional customers with large or many electrical facilities, a promise to pay for power used may be sufficient. In this case, payment is effected by suitable means such as wire transfer, which may be made on an appropriate schedule such as monthly, weekly, or even daily in circumstances of massive power consumption.

After the customer makes prepayment step

804

, the power interagent transmits notification of the customer's prepayment to the prepaid power metering apparatus

106

(step

806

). In the illustrated embodiment, this notification includes the number of kilowatts purchased by the customer. Alternatively, or in addition, the prepayment information may include the dollar amount of the purchase. If dollars are used and the amount of power is omitted, the notification may also includes an applicable power rate in appropriate units such as dollars per kilowatt.

The notification of step

806

is transmitted via telephone line

206

, cable connection

208

, or other link to the apparatus

106

provided at the customer's electrical facility

109

. After step

806

, the routine

800

ends in step

808

.

Other Embodiments

While the foregoing disclosure shows a number of illustrative embodiments of the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made herein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, although elements of the invention may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. Additionally, ordinarily skilled artisans will recognize that operational sequences must be set forth in some specific order for the purpose of explanation and claiming, but the present invention contemplates various changes beyond such specific order.