JP2005316843A - Electricity rate reporting system, electricity rate reporting method, and program which make this method performed to computer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electricity rate reporting method and a reporting system which gives a customer an incentive to economical power consumption to effectively realize efficient operation and unnecessary suppression of power generation equipment and contribute to energy saving in the entire nation as a result. <P>SOLUTION: In the method of informing a power customer of electricity rate relevant information constituted including an electricity rate, a storage means 21 stores customer information relating to the power customer and supply power information relating to power supplied by supply equipment of an electric company, in a database. A report information generation means 23 generates electricity rate relevant information including the electricity rate, including customer information or supply power information read out from the database. An information transmission means 24 transmits electricity rate relevant information generated by the report information generation means, to the customer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an electricity bill notification system, an electricity bill notification method, and a program for causing a computer to perform the method.

  Due to the fact that electricity cannot be stored, the power supply side, such as an electric power supplier, can supply enough power even when the demand for power is at its maximum, such as during midday in the summer. It builds and owns power generation facilities so that it can do it. The power supply side operates from the one that can keep the cost required for power generation low when operating the power generation equipment. Costly power generation facilities are used only when necessary, as the demand for power increases. Since electric utilities need to have power generation facilities that are not always in operation for the time when power demand is at its maximum, capital investment accounts for a large portion of the cost required for power generation . The capital investment portion is reflected as a fixed cost in the billing of electricity charges for each power consumer (hereinafter referred to as a consumer).

  Conventionally, when the electricity rate is imposed, the cost required for all power generation facilities such as oil thermal power, general hydropower, and nuclear power is averaged and charged to the customer. According to this billing method, the electric power used by the customer at a certain point in time, regardless of whether it is high-cost or low-cost generated, is uniformly on the electric utility side. Based on the set charge per unit amount of electricity, the consumer is charged with an electricity charge corresponding to the amount of power used by the consumer.

  When the billing is calculated based on the amount of usage, the customer does not need to use electric power in consideration of the time and time zone in terms of the fee. However, in reality, during the time when demand for power increases during the summer and during the daytime, it is necessary to use high-cost facilities because it is not possible to supply power only with low-cost power generation facilities. It also affects the electricity bills imposed on the house.

  By the way, in a contract between an electric power company and a large-scale consumer, for example, there is a “seasonal power contract by time zone”. Large customers who have signed this contract with an electric power company are charged at a low rate at a certain rate depending on the season and time. Electricity charges that are lower than electricity charges when the contract is not concluded are set in seasons and time periods when electricity demand is low, such as at night and on holidays, etc. Electricity charges higher than the electricity charges when this contract is not concluded are set. For customers who use a lot of power in the seasons and times when electricity prices are low, and customers who can transfer the use of electricity during the seasons and times when electricity prices are low, sign a power contract for each season. Thus, electric power can be used more economically.

  As in this seasonal power contract by time of day, it is low cost for consumers to actively use power during periods when power demand is low and to refrain from using it during seasons when demand is high. This will increase the operating rate of the power generation equipment that can generate electricity and reduce investment in high-cost power generation equipment.

  Currently, with the liberalization of electric power in Japan, a power wholesale market or a wholesale power exchange (hereinafter referred to as a power wholesale market) is being studied (for example, Non-Patent Document 1). If the price fluctuates according to the supply and demand balance with the introduction of the power wholesale market system, for example, a billing system may be realized in which the electricity charge imposed on the consumer is reset every 30 minutes.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram conceptually showing a conventional monitoring system for matching the demand amount and the supply amount of power as an example of a system that is currently communicating between an electric power company and a consumer. Indicates. Currently, power is partially liberalized. A specific-scale electric power company uses a transmission line of a general electric power company when supplying electric power to a customer. For this reason, it is necessary for a specific scale electric power company to monitor that the amount of power supplied by itself and the amount of demand (use amount) on the customer side coincide with each other at a certain point in time. For example, the communication system represented in FIG. 12 is used for this purpose. The supply and demand management system 102 manages the amount of power supplied to the consumers by the supply management systems 104a to 104m such as a plurality of power plants at a certain point in time by a telemeter or the like. At the same time, the power consumption amount, that is, the demand amount at a certain point in time of the consumers 103a to 103n is managed by the supply and demand management system 102 using a telemeter or the like. The supply and demand management system 102 constantly monitors the power supply amount and the demand amount.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the signal flow in the system for monitoring the relationship between demand and supply in FIG. 12 and the signal flow in power supply. The system for monitoring the same amount of supply and demand in FIG. 12 is currently connected to each other by a wide area communication network 106 or the like. This is realized by reading the power supply amount or usage amount of a power plant, a consumer, etc. from a meter with a telemeter, and transmitting the read data to the supply and demand management system 102 via the wide area communication network 106. This is provided separately from the power supply line.
"Major points of interim report (draft) in detailed design of electric power business system", [online], Electric power business subcommittee, [Search February 10, 2004], Internet <URL: http: //www.enecho. meti.go.jp/policy/electric/electricpower#partialliberalization/page2.html>

  The aforementioned seasonal power contracts by time of day have economic advantages for the contractor. However, the customers who are profitable by concluding this contract are limited to a part of the total. For example, the overall power usage pattern does not necessarily mean that the demand for electricity is high during the season and time when the contracted electricity bill is low, and the demand for electricity is not limited during the season and time when the contract is expensive. For customers, this contract does not provide sufficient benefits. There is a demand for a billing system that is economical for all consumers and that is also suitable for effective use of resources, and a system that realizes it.

  Under a power supply system in which time-varying electricity charges are charged to consumers, consumers use electricity intensively during times when the charges are as low as possible out of the ever-changing electricity charges. It is possible to try. In order to make effective use of power generation facilities by making use of the spirit of so-called thrifty, the electric utility side needs a system to notify the electricity charges that change with time as needed.

  The present invention gives an incentive to consumers to consume power economically, and thus has an effect on efficient operation of power generation facilities and suppression of waste, and thus contributes to energy saving of the whole country. It is an object to provide a notification method and a notification system.

  According to the present invention, there is provided a method for notifying an electric power consumer of electric charge related information configured including an electric charge, wherein the storage means includes consumer information related to the electric power consumer, and an electric power provider. Storing the power supply information related to the power supplied by the power supply facility in the database, and the consumer information or the supply power that the notification information creating means reads out the electricity charge related information including the electricity charge from the database. An electricity bill notification method comprising: a step of creating information including information; and a step of transmitting information related to the electricity bill created by the notification information creating unit to a consumer. Provided.

  Means for transmitting a fluctuating electricity bill to an electricity consumer is provided. For this reason, a consumer can refer to the information regarding the transmitted electricity bill at any time, and can use it as a parameter | index for using electric power more economically. It is expected that consumers who have been notified will actively use electricity during periods of low electricity prices. Economic use of electricity at the consumer level and the refrain from using electricity at times or hours when electricity charges are high leads to effective use of power generation facilities and suppression of excess capital investment, and consequently It leads to energy saving as a whole country.

In the other form of this invention, it is good also as the information regarding the electric charge of the upper limit or the minimum set by the consumer is included.
A means for recognizing on the consumer side when the actual electricity charge exceeds or falls below the upper or lower limit electricity charge set by the consumer may be provided. When recognizing that the upper or lower limit electricity charges set by the consumer have been exceeded or fallen below, it is possible to further switch the power switch of the appliance, etc., or switch the operation to a mode that suppresses the use of electricity. It is good as well.

In the other form of this invention, it is good also as notifying a predicted value of the fluctuating electricity bill with respect to a consumer.
The present invention is not limited to the electricity bill notification method, but is also applied to an electricity bill notification system that uses the electricity bill notification method and a program that causes a computer to execute the method.

  According to the present invention, by notifying consumers of fluctuating electricity charges, it is possible not only to economically use electricity during times when electricity charges are cheap for consumers, but also for the power supply side. Contributes to effective use of power generation facilities and curbing unnecessary capital investment. Therefore, the country as a whole has an effect to save energy.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be specifically described.

  A block diagram of an electricity bill notification system 1 according to the present embodiment is shown in FIG. The electricity bill notification system in FIG. 1 is provided on the electric utility side, and is composed of, for example, a computer. The electricity bill notification system according to the present embodiment is connected to a customer computer or the like via a network, and includes a database 21, transmission information creation means 23, and information transmission means 24. The information stored in the database 21 is stored in, for example, a customer information file 301, a used power information file 302, and a supplied power information file 303 as shown in FIG.

  The customer information file 301 is configured to include at least a customer ID, a customer name, power consumption information, and electricity charge information. The customer ID is a character string that is assigned to one customer and includes numbers, alphabets, and the like in order to identify the customer. The customer name is the name or name of a contractor who has a contract with an electric power company or the like for the supply of electric power. The used electric energy information is data relating to the electric energy used by consumers within a certain period. The point of use and the amount of use at that point are stored in the table in association with each other. It is good also as having the information about the total amount of the electric power used within a certain period together. In the electricity charge information, electricity charges within a certain period are stored in a table in association with each time and the electricity charge at that time. In addition, as customer information, it is good also as including information for specifying the terminal etc. of the consumer side of the consumer about a certain consumer, such as a customer's mail address.

  The power usage information file 302 includes at least a consumer ID and power usage information. The customer ID is information for identifying a contractor. In the power consumption information, the power usage amount of the consumer at each time point is stored in a table in association with the time point. In addition, the usage amount for the current month, the usage amount for the last month, the usage amount for the same month last year, etc. may be included. The current month's usage is an integrated amount of power used by the customer in the month to which a certain point belongs, and may include information on the electricity bill charged for the power used up to that point. Last month's usage and previous year's same month usage is the amount of electricity used by consumers in the month before the month to which a certain point belongs, or in the same month of the previous year. It may be included.

  The supplied power information file 303 includes at least an electricity rate information table. The electricity rate information table is set at each point of time based on the electricity price that fluctuates depending on the electricity wholesale market and the like.

A process for disclosing electricity charges to consumers using data on the database 21 will be described.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process for notifying a consumer of an electricity bill. The processing in FIG. 11 is realized by the database 21, the transmission information creation unit 23, and the information transmission unit 24 in FIG.

  First, the set electricity bill is stored in a database (step S1). In the electric power wholesale market and the like, the electricity charges imposed on consumers fluctuate based on price fluctuations due to a balance between supply and demand. Therefore, for example, if the price fluctuates every 30 minutes due to the power wholesale market etc., the electricity rate per unit power amount imposed on the consumer is also reset every 30 minutes. The electricity charge imposed on the consumer at each time point is stored in the database 21 as one record of the electricity charge information table of the power supply information file 303 in association with the time.

Next, the power consumption is stored in the database (step S2). For a certain consumer, the amount of power used at each time is stored as one record in the power consumption information table of the power usage information file 302 in correspondence with the time.
Steps S1 and S2 are executed at predetermined intervals. For this reason, the electricity bill notification system 1 according to the present embodiment indicates the charge at each time point of the supplied power and the power usage amount at each time point of each consumer, for example, (a) and (b) of FIG. It is managed by the table shown in

In step S3, the electricity rate notification system 1 receives an electricity rate notification request for requesting notification of an electricity rate from a consumer. When receiving an electricity bill notification request from the consumer side, data to be notified to the consumer is created (step S4).
Specifically, the corresponding used power information table is searched from the used power information file 302 created for each customer using the customer ID as a key. The used power information is read from the used power information table obtained as a result of the search. Based on the read power consumption information and the electricity charge information in the supply power information file 303, the electricity charge imposed on the consumer is calculated. The table is searched from the customer information file 301 using the corresponding customer ID as a key, and information necessary for notification is written in the table.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of the notification information that is created based on the customer information file 301 and is notified to the customer. The figure shows, for example, a screen displayed on a consumer's mobile terminal. The notification includes a customer name, a customer ID, a time zone, and an electricity bill and power usage corresponding to the described time zone.

Finally, the created data is transmitted to the customer side (step S5).
Note that the processing for storing the set electricity bill and power usage amount in the database in step S1 and step S2 need not be performed according to the above procedure. For example, after the processing in step S2 is performed, the processing in step S1 is performed. You may go. In step S3, the customer side requests the electricity rate notification system 1 to disclose the electricity rate, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it is good also as notifying information about an electricity bill by transmitting data to a consumer from the electricity bill notification system side at a predetermined interval. Notification may be made only when the electricity rate fluctuates.

  With reference to FIG. 7, a description will be given of the process of calculating the electricity charge imposed on the consumer for the power used during a certain period in step S4. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an electricity bill calculation method. The vertical axis represents power consumption and the horizontal axis represents time. It is assumed that the electricity bill is updated at a timing of every 30 minutes, such as 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, and so on.

  For example, the power used between 11 o'clock and 11:30 in FIG. 6 is represented by the area of the shaded portion in the figure. An electric charge per 1 kWh from 11:00 to 11:30 (hereinafter referred to as the unit price of the electric charge) is applied to the amount of power used. This calculation result is an electricity charge imposed between 11:00 and 11:30.

  In the present embodiment, the electricity bill is calculated according to the fluctuation of the electricity bill every 30 minutes, but the present invention is not limited to this. The electric charge to be imposed may be calculated more frequently or at intervals than the electric charge fluctuates, for example, every 10 minutes or every hour. It is also possible to calculate a predicted value of the electric charge after 1 hour, 5 hours, etc. from the fluctuation of the electric charge and notify it together with the current electric charge. It is good also as notifying only a predicted value.

It is also possible to create a bill for monthly electricity charges by using the fact that the electricity charges imposed on the power used during a certain period can be calculated. It is assumed that the electricity bill between a certain time t _i and the time t _{i + 1} is x _i and the amount of power used is P _i . At this time, the electricity charge X imposed for a certain period is expressed by the following equation.

X = Σ (P _i × x _i )
In this case, the period from the first day to the last day of the month is designated as a period, and the usage amount is calculated in units of intervals of fluctuations in electricity charges as shown in FIG. For each of the calculated usage amounts, the unit price of the corresponding electricity charge is multiplied and all the multiplication results are added to calculate the electricity charge per month.

  Using the electricity bill notification system according to the present embodiment, the calculated electricity bill per month can be notified to the consumer. In addition to notifying the monthly electricity bill through the system according to the present embodiment, for example, in response to a request from a consumer, detailed information such as fluctuations in the electricity bill and the amount of electricity used by the consumer is read from the database 21. In addition, it can be notified together with the electricity bill.

  Further, according to the demand of the customer, for example, based on (a) or (b) of FIG. 4, the electric charge or the amount of power used by the customer for each time zone is displayed in a graph, or the current consumer Information such as the amount of power used and the predicted value of electricity charges may be displayed as notification information. For example, on the screen of the mobile terminal shown in FIG. 5, regarding the power consumption, today, for one week, two weeks, etc., by selecting the item that you want to check for the power consumption, you can display a graph on the screen. May be. It is good also as notifying the integrated electric bill etc. about the period which a consumer designates.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, there is provided means for notifying consumers of the electricity bill at each time point. For this reason, even if the electricity rate changes with time due to the liberalization of electric power, the customer can know the electricity rate at each time point by using the system of this embodiment. The consumer can refer to the information on the transmitted electricity bill as needed to determine whether to use power.

  Note that the electricity bill notification system according to the present embodiment may be realized by, for example, notifying the customer of the electricity bill from the electric power company using the systems shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. Moreover, although each system which comprises the electricity bill notification system which concerns on a present Example is mutually connected via the wide area network, for example, it is not restricted to this. For example, the Internet or the like may be used, and power line communication may be used.

  The present embodiment is characterized by comprising means for determining whether or not to use electricity according to the changing electricity charges, or means for instructing start and stop of electricity use. In addition, about the structure of the electricity bill notification system which concerns on a present Example, the request | requirement from a consumer, or the process which notifies the information regarding an electricity bill with respect to a consumer at a fixed time interval, a present Example is the same as that of Example 1. Therefore, it is omitted here and only different points will be described.

  FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of the basic configuration of the electricity bill notification system 1 according to the present embodiment. The electricity bill notification system 1 according to the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the electricity bill notification system 1 further includes a determination unit 74 and a switching unit 75 configured by a computer on the customer side. When receiving a notification from the information transmission unit 24 on the electric utility side on the consumer side, the determination unit 74 reads the content of the notification and makes a determination. When receiving the notification from the information transmitting unit, the switching unit 75 opens / closes the circuit of the electric appliance or increases / decreases the electricity flowing through the circuit.

  FIG. 8 shows a structure diagram of data on the electricity bill notification and the value set by the consumer by the electricity bill notification system according to the present embodiment. The data received by the corresponding consumer (here, the consumer corresponding to the customer ID1) of the consumer information file 301 of FIG. 2 transmitted by the electric power company is the electricity bill notification 501 of FIG. Here, the value set by the consumer indicates, for example, the upper limit value, the lower limit value, the alarm flag, the switch flag, and the appliance information in FIG. The database 21 in FIG. 7 constitutes a distributed database in which data is distributed and stored via a network. In the present embodiment, values set by consumers such as an upper limit value and a lower limit value are, for example, It is stored in a customer-side database (not shown in FIG. 7).

  When the alarm flag or the switch flag is set to ON, the electricity rate information of the electricity rate notification 501 is compared with the upper limit electricity rate set value or the lower limit electricity rate set value set by the consumer, and the electric appliance etc. The process of opening / closing the circuit or increasing / decreasing the electricity flowing through the circuit is executed. The upper limit electricity charge set value here means an upper limit value of an electricity charge that is acceptable for a consumer who wants to refrain from using electricity if the electricity charge exceeds that value. The lower limit electricity rate setting value means the lower limit value of the electricity rate desired by a consumer who wants to actively use electricity when the electricity rate falls below that value.

  First, a process for notifying a consumer that an electricity charge has exceeded a certain amount (or below) by an alarm will be described with reference to FIG. The processing in FIG. 7 is realized by the transmission information creation unit 23, the information transmission unit 24, and the determination unit 74 in FIG. Here, regarding the alarm flag set by the consumer, the on state is 1 and the off state is 0.

Prior to entering the process of FIG. 9, the customer has set in advance the upper limit electricity charge set value or the lower limit electricity charge set value from any input device connected to the terminal or the like as shown in FIG.
A consumer receives notification of an electricity bill from the electric utility side. (Step S21). The trigger for the notification may be a request from the customer side, or may be a regular transmission from the electric utility side. On the terminal side of the customer who has received the notification, it is determined whether the alarm flag is on or off (step S22). When the alarm flag is set to 1 (on), the process proceeds to step S23. When the flag is set to 0 (off), the process is terminated. Here, it is assumed that the flag is set to 1 (on). Since the processing when the alarm flag is set to 0 (off) is the same as that in the first embodiment, it is omitted here.

In step S23, the electricity bill information of the electricity bill notification 501 is read and compared with the upper limit electricity bill set value or the lower limit electricity bill set value. For example, consider the case where the electricity bill information in the electricity bill notification 501 exceeds the upper limit electricity bill set value (YES in step S23).
If YES in step S23, that is, if the electricity bill (value of electricity bill data read from the supply power information table) at the time of notification exceeds the upper limit electricity bill set value set by the consumer, the consumer By displaying an alarm message on an output device such as a monitor of the terminal, the fact that the actual electricity bill exceeds the upper limit set by the consumer at that time is notified.

A customer who knows that the electricity charge has exceeded his / her own charge, for example, refrains from using appliances such as home appliances and factory equipment in order to reduce the amount of electricity used and to suppress the electricity charge. It can be used as a judgment material when taking action.
In step S23, the same processing is performed when the electricity bill at the time of receiving the notification is below the lower limit electricity bill set value. That is, in step S24, a notification that the value is lower than the value set by the consumer at the time of the notification is given by displaying an alarm message on an output device such as a monitor of the consumer's terminal.

A customer who knows that the electricity rate has fallen below the rate set by the user due to the alarm, such as starting to use electric appliances such as home appliances, etc. in order to use electricity while the electricity rate is low. It can be used as judgment material when taking.
Next, a process for switching on / off of the switch of the electric appliance when the electricity bill becomes equal to or larger than (or below) the value set by the consumer will be described with reference to FIG. The processing shown in FIG. 7 is realized by the transmission information creation means 23, information transmission means 24, determination means 74, and switching means 75 shown in FIG. Here, regarding the switch flag set by the consumer, the on state is 1 and the off state is 0.

  As in the case of the alarm notification process described above, prior to entering the process of FIG. 10, the customer has previously set the upper limit electricity charge set value or the lower limit electricity charge set value from the input device connected to the terminal or the like. . The electrical appliance information in FIG. 8 stores data on a switching target item representing information on electrical appliances to be switched.

  A consumer receives a notification of an electricity bill from the electric utility side (step S31). The trigger for the notification may be a request from the customer side, or may be a periodic transmission from the electric utility side. On the terminal side of the customer who has received the notification, it is determined whether the switch flag is on or off (step S32). When the switch flag is set to 1 (on), the process proceeds to step S33. When the flag is set to 0 (off), the process is terminated. Here, it is assumed that the flag is set to 1 (on). Since the processing when the switch flag is set to 0 (off) is the same as that in the first embodiment, it is omitted here.

In step S33, the electricity rate information in the electricity rate notification 501 of FIG. 8 is read and compared with the upper limit electricity rate setting value or the lower limit electricity rate setting value. For example, consider a case where the upper limit electricity charge set value is exceeded (YES in step S33).
If YES in step S33, that is, the electricity bill at the time of receiving the notification (the value of the electricity bill data read from the electricity bill notification 501) exceeds the upper limit electricity bill set value set by the consumer, the above-mentioned demand Based on the data set on the house side, for example, a command to turn off the switch is transmitted to an electrical appliance of an item registered in advance by a consumer, such as a home appliance with a large amount of power consumption (step S34). ). The appliance that receives the command turns its switch off. The registered electrical appliances may be directly connected to the management system in the consumer with a LAN cable or the like to form a network, or wirelessly between the management system and the registered electrical product. It is good also as communicating in. The above processing may be directly performed by an electric appliance or the like.

  In step S33, the same processing is performed when the electricity bill information in the electricity bill notification 501 falls below the lower limit electricity bill set value. In other words, assuming that the actual electricity charge is lower than the lower limit electricity charge set value set by the consumer at the time of receiving the notification, in step S34, the consumer's preset switch such as an appliance is turned on. To execute the process.

  It recognizes whether the electricity price exceeds or falls below a certain amount, and switches on / off the appliance specified by the consumer. Even if the consumer confirms the electricity bill and does not directly operate the switch of the electric appliance, the electricity bill can be saved and the energy can be saved.

  It is also possible to execute other processing using an alarm flag or a switch flag. For example, using an alarm flag or a switch flag, it is possible to automatically or manually switch an electric appliance to a thermostat operation, an intermittent use mode, an energy saving mode, or the like. In addition, for example, in a factory or the like, it is possible to use a method such as operating only urgent equipment or the like, and intensively using those that have time allowance and can be rotated later, such as when electricity charges are cheap.

  Based on the comparison result between the electricity charge and the upper limit value or the lower limit value, processing such as switching to a suitable use mode among the preset use modes of the plurality of electric appliances may be performed. For example, in addition to the normal mode, a suppression mode, an operation mode, and the like are set. The normal mode is when the electricity rate is within the range from the lower limit value to the upper limit value. In this case, no particular processing is performed. In the suppression mode, when the electricity rate is higher than the upper limit value, the use of electric power is suppressed by switching off electric appliances such as home appliances. In the operation mode, when the electricity rate is lower than the lower limit value, the electric appliance designated in advance is operated and the power is actively used. According to the operation mode, an electric appliance that consumes a large amount of electric power and can be used at any time without being used in a predetermined time zone is actively used. Electricity charges are compared with the upper limit value or the lower limit value, and the mode is automatically switched, so that electric power can be used more efficiently.

  In the above example, the processing in the case where the alarm flag or switch flag information is stored in the database on the customer side has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, alarm flag or switch flag information may be stored in a database on the electric utility side. In this case, the electric utility may make the determination of FIG. 9 or FIG. 10 and notify the consumer of the determination result.

  By the way, the part which processes data especially among the electricity bill notification systems described so far is executed by using an information processing apparatus (computer or the like) as shown in FIG. 11 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 161, a memory 162, an input device 163, an output device 164, and a network connection device 165, which are connected to each other via a bus 169.

  The memory 162 includes, for example, a ROM (read only memory), a RAM (random access memory), etc., and a program for creating a message for notifying information such as electricity charges to a consumer, a program for transmitting the created message, etc. Stored in the ROM of the memory 162. The database 21 is realized by the memory 162, and various data including a customer information file 301, a power usage information file 302, and a power supply information file 303 are stored in the memory 162. The CPU 161 executes a series of processing such as creation and transmission of a message for disclosure of electricity charges, processing based on information designated by a consumer, etc. by executing a program using the memory 162 or accessing a database.

  The input device 163 is used, for example, when a consumer inputs a request for disclosure of electricity charges, or when inputting information such as an alarm flag, a switch flag, and an electric product to be controlled. The output device 164 is used for displaying an electricity bill, its fluctuation graph, and a bill.

The network connection device 165 is a device for connecting between an electric power company and a consumer. The electricity rate notification system performs transmission / reception and management of each data from the computer of the terminal of the electric power company and each consumer via the network connection device 165.
The present invention is not limited to the above examples, and can be implemented with various modifications.

1 is a block diagram of a basic configuration of an electricity bill notification system according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of data stored in a database according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process which produces the data which the electricity bill notification system based on Example 1 notifies. (A) is an electricity bill information table of supplied power information, and (b) is a used power information table. It is an example of the notification made | formed with respect to a consumer. It is a figure explaining the electricity bill calculation method. It is a block diagram of the basic composition of the electricity bill notification system concerning Example 2. It is a structure figure of the data of the value which the notification of the electricity bill concerning Example 2 and the consumer set. It is a flowchart which shows the process which notifies by an alarm that the electric bill became more than the fixed amount (or below). It is a flowchart which shows the process which switches on / off of the switch of an electric product, when an electric bill becomes more than the value which a consumer set (or less). It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of a structure of the information storage apparatus of the part which processes especially data among the electricity bill notification systems which concern on this invention. It is the figure which showed notionally the conventional monitoring system of the demand amount and supply amount of electric power. It is the figure which showed notionally the relationship between the system which monitors the demand amount and supply amount of the conventional electric power, and an electric power supply system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electricity rate notification system 21 Database 23 Notification information preparation means 24 Information transmission means 74 Judgment means 75 Switching means

Claims (8)

A method for notifying electric power consumers of information related to electricity charges including electricity charges,
A step of storing, in a database, customer information relating to a consumer of electric power and supply power information relating to electric power supplied by an electric utility supply facility;
A notification information creating means for creating the electricity rate related information including the electricity rate including the customer information or the supply power information read from the database;
An electricity bill notification method comprising: a step of transmitting information related to the electricity bill created by the notification information creating means to a consumer.   2. The electricity bill notification method according to claim 1, wherein an upper limit value or a lower limit value of an electricity bill determined by a consumer is further stored in the database. 2. The electricity according to claim 1, further comprising a step of judging whether the electricity price exceeds an upper limit value or falls below a lower limit value with reference to the notification from the information transmission means. Charge notification method. 4. The electricity bill notification method according to claim 3, further comprising a step of switching a circuit of an electric appliance to which electric power is supplied based on a determination made by the determination unit. 4. The electricity charge according to claim 3, further comprising a step of switching the amount of electricity flowing through the circuit of the electric appliance to which power is supplied based on the determination made by the determination unit. Notification method. The information transmitting means notifies the consumer of either the electricity rate related information and a predicted value of a fluctuating electricity rate or the electricity rate related information or a predicted value of a fluctuating electricity rate. The electricity bill notification method according to any one of claims 1 to 5. An electricity rate notification system for notifying electricity consumers of electricity rate related information including an electricity rate,
Storage means for storing, in a database, customer information related to a power consumer and supply power information related to power supplied by a power supply facility of an electric power company;
Notification information creating means for creating the electricity bill related information including the electricity bill, including the customer information read from the database or the supplied power information,
Information transmitting means for transmitting the electricity rate related information created by the notification information creating means to a consumer;
An electricity bill notification system characterized by comprising: A program for causing a computer to execute notification of electricity rate related information including an electricity rate to a power consumer,
The storage means stores customer information related to power consumers and supply power information related to power supplied by the power supply facilities of the electric utility in a database,
The notification information creating means creates the electricity bill related information including the electricity bill including the customer information or the supplied power information read from the database,
An information transmission unit causes the computer to execute a process of transmitting the electricity rate related information created by the notification information creation unit to a consumer.

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