JP2006244063A - Supply and demand contract support system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a supply and demand contract support system easily and accurately supporting the selection of a supply and demand contract even in the middle of a rate charging period when a plurality of supply and demand contracts with different rate calculating methods are established, to a customer using utilities, such as electricity, gas, and water, and having the user recognize an appropriate use status of the utilities in the future part of the rate calculating period. <P>SOLUTION: A support server device communicating with a client terminal on a customer side, and extracting an actual use amount from a database carries out in sequence steps of: obtaining the actual use amount in the past period from the database; creating an estimated use amount in a future period; creating the use amount of the rate charging period by putting the actual use amount and the estimated use amount together; calculating the utilities rate from the use amount of the rate charging period; and outputting the rate information related to the utilities rate to the client terminal side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  In the present invention, as a supply and demand contract concluded between a utility company that supplies a utility and a consumer that uses the utility, a plurality of supply and demand contracts that have different fee calculation methods for the utility usage of the consumer are set. In such a case, the present invention relates to a supply-demand contract support system that supports the customer to select a supply-demand contract to be concluded with the utility company from the plurality of supply-demand contracts.

  Electricity utilities, gas utilities, or utility utilities such as water utilities that sell utilities such as electricity, gas, or water to each consumer, A supply and demand contract is concluded based on the specified supply contract and optional contract, and utilities are supplied to customers who have concluded the supply and demand contract. Furthermore, the utility company uses the charge calculation method for utility usage specified in the supply and demand contract, and the actual measurement measured by the measuring section on the customer side within a predetermined charge billing period such as one month. Utility charges such as electricity charges, gas charges, and water charges charged to consumers are calculated from utility usage.

  In some cases, a plurality of supply and demand contracts having different fee calculation methods are set as supply and demand contracts concluded between the utility company and the customer. In such a case, the consumer selects a supply-demand contract that can keep the utility fee charged to the consumer for each billing period as low as possible in each month or year from the multiple supply-demand contracts. Then, by concluding the selected supply and demand contract with a utility company, it is possible to reduce expenses such as utility costs.

  In addition, the utility company, etc., measures with the measuring unit on the customer side during the billing period by a server device capable of data communication with the client terminal installed on the customer side via the Internet network. Obtain the actual utility usage amount calculated, calculate the utility fee for each of all supply-demand contracts from the actual utility usage amount, and output the information on the optimal supply-demand agreement that minimizes the utility fee to the client terminal A supply and demand contract support system is known that assists consumers in selecting a supply and demand contract to be concluded with a utility company in the future billing period by recognizing the consumer (for example, (See Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-94637 A

Even in the middle of the current billing period such as the current month, by making it possible to change the supply-demand contract currently concluded during the billing period to another supply-demand contract, for example, the utility usage amount and patterns of consumers can be changed. Even when there has been a significant change from the previous one, customers can further reduce utility charges by changing the supply and demand contracts concluded with utility companies during the current billing period. can do.
However, in the conventional supply and demand contract support system described in Patent Document 1, since the optimum utility contract is determined using the actual utility usage amount within the already billed billing period, the billing period currently in progress Cannot support the selection of supply-demand contracts to be concluded in

  In addition, in the ongoing billing period, the utility usage amount and pattern of the consumer are appropriate so that the utility fee can be kept low in the supply-demand contract or another supply-demand contract concluded by the consumer. If it can be recognized, the customer can use the utility appropriately in the past period, which is the future period within the billing period, to further reduce the utility fee. The conventional supply and demand support system described in Document 1 is not configured as such.

  In view of the above circumstances, the present invention is concluded with a utility company during a billing period, even during the billing period, for consumers who use utilities such as electricity, gas, or water. The purpose is to realize a supply and demand contract support system that can easily and accurately support the selection of supply and demand contracts to be made and can recognize an appropriate utility usage state in the past period, which is a future period within the billing period. To do.

In order to achieve the above object, the supply and demand contract support system according to the present invention provides a utility usage amount of the consumer as a supply and demand contract concluded between a utility company supplying the utility and the consumer using the utility. When a plurality of supply and demand contracts with different charge calculation methods are set, the customer is selected from among the plurality of supply and demand contracts to select a supply and demand contract to be concluded with the utility company. A supply and demand contract support system, the first characteristic configuration of which is communication with a client terminal installed on the consumer side, and the actual utility usage measured by the weighing unit on the consumer side A support server device capable of extracting the actual usage amount from a database storing the actual usage amount,
An actual usage amount obtaining step of obtaining the actual usage amount in the past period, which is a past period within a predetermined billing period, from the database;
A predicted usage amount generating step for generating a predicted usage amount that is a utility usage amount of the customer's prediction in a past period that is a future period within the billing period;
A period usage generation step for generating a period usage that is a utility usage of the consumer within the billing period by combining the actual usage and the predicted usage;
A utility fee calculating step for calculating a utility fee when applying the predetermined supply-demand contract selected from the plurality of supply-demand contracts from the period usage amount;
A fee simulation process for sequentially executing a fee information output step of outputting fee information relating to the utility fee to the client terminal is configured to be executable.

  According to the first characteristic configuration, the support server device executes, for example, the fee simulation process on a client terminal accessed with a request for selecting a supply-demand contract, and outputs fee information related to the utility fee As a result, the consumer can easily and accurately select the optimum supply and demand contract to be concluded with the utility company during the current billing period based on the charge information output to the client terminal. Furthermore, in the optimal supply / demand contract or another supply / demand contract, it is possible to recognize an appropriate utility usage state in an unexplored period, which is a future period within the billing period.

That is, the support server device executes the charge simulation process, and the actual use amount in the past period in the charge billing period acquired by the actual use amount acquisition step and the prediction generated by the predicted use amount generation step. The usage amount can be synthesized by the period usage amount generation step to generate a period usage amount related to the utility usage amount of the customer within the currently billing period.
Then, the utility fee calculation step calculates a utility fee when a demand / supply contract currently concluded by the customer or another supply / demand contract is applied from the period usage, and the utility information calculation step calculates the utility fee. Charge information related to charges can be output to the client terminal side.
Then, the customer who has recognized the charge information output to the client terminal side easily and accurately recognizes the optimum supply and demand contract to be concluded with the utility company during the current billing period, It is possible to conclude an optimal supply and demand contract with a utility company during the billing period. Furthermore, since the charge information affects the predicted usage related to the utility usage in the future period, which is the future period within the billing period, the utility fee will be in any state. Therefore, it is possible to recognize an appropriate utility usage state in the early period.

  The second feature configuration of the supply and demand contract support system according to the present invention is that, in addition to any one of the feature configurations described above, the support server device performs the predicted usage amount generation step from the client terminal in the previous period. It is the point which is comprised so that the usage schedule information regarding the utility usage amount of a consumer's schedule can be received and the said prediction usage amount can be produced | generated based on the said usage schedule information.

According to the second feature configuration, in the predicted usage amount generation step, the support server device receives, from the client terminal on the customer side, the predicted usage amount itself in the past period or the utility usage amount in the past period. And the use schedule information such as the pattern thereof can be received, and the predicted usage amount can be generated based on the use schedule information.
Therefore, when a customer inputs the utility usage amount or pattern in the previous period that he / she recognizes or targets to the client terminal and uses the utility in that period, the customer is currently in progress. It is possible to recognize what the fee information related to the utility fee is during the billing period.

  According to a third feature configuration of the supply and demand contract support system according to the present invention, in addition to any one of the feature configurations described above, the support server device may be configured based on the actual usage amount in the past period in the predicted usage amount generation step. It is the point which is comprised so that generation | occurrence | production of the said prediction usage-amount is possible.

According to the third feature configuration, in the predicted usage amount generation step, the support server device uses the predicted usage amount in the previous period in the billing period as the actual usage amount in the previous period in the same billing period. Can be generated easily and accurately based on the above.
Therefore, if a consumer uses a utility in the past period, the utility usage amount is the same as that in the past period, or the utility uses that pattern, what kind of charge information will be related to the utility charge during the current billing period. Can be recognized.

  According to a fourth feature configuration of the supply and demand contract support system according to the present invention, in addition to any one of the feature configurations described above, the support server device has the same attribute as the previous period from the database in the predicted usage amount generation step. The actual usage amount is acquired, and the predicted usage amount can be generated based on the actual usage amount.

According to the fourth feature configuration, the support server device uses the same day of the week, the same month and day, the same season, and the like for the predicted usage in the previous billing period in the predicted usage generation step. It can be generated easily and accurately based on the actual usage of the attribute.
Therefore, if the customer uses the utility in the previous period with the utility usage amount or its pattern for each attribute such as day of the week, month, day, season, etc., as in the past, in the billing period currently in progress It is possible to recognize what the fee information related to the utility fee will be.

The fifth characteristic configuration of the supply and demand contract support system according to the present invention for achieving the above object is that communication is possible with a client terminal installed on the customer side, and measurement is performed by the weighing unit on the customer side. A support server device capable of extracting the actual usage amount from a database that stores the actual usage amount that is the actual utility usage amount,
Predictive usage that acquires the actual usage amount having the same attribute as the future billing period from the database and generates the predicted usage amount that is the utility usage amount of the consumer prediction in the billing period based on the actual usage amount A quantity generation step;
A utility fee calculating step of calculating a utility fee when applying the predetermined supply-demand contract selected from the plurality of supply-demand contracts from the predicted usage amount;
A fee simulation process for sequentially executing a fee information output step of outputting fee information relating to the utility fee to the client terminal is configured to be executable.

  According to the fifth characteristic configuration, for example, the support server device executes the fee simulation process on a client terminal accessed with a request for selecting a supply and demand contract, and outputs fee information related to the utility fee. By doing so, the consumer can easily and accurately select the optimum supply and demand contract to be concluded with the utility company in the future billing period based on the charge information output to the client terminal, Can recognize the appropriate utility usage state in the future billing period in the optimal supply-demand contract or another supply-demand contract.

That is, the fee simulation process is executed by the support server device, and the predicted usage amount in the future billing period is set to the same attribute of the same day of the week, the same month, the same season, etc. It can be generated easily and accurately based on the actual usage amount.
Then, the utility fee calculation step calculates the utility fee when the demand / supply contract currently concluded by the customer or another supply / demand contract is applied from the predicted usage amount in the future billing period, and the charge information Through the output step, fee information relating to the utility fee can be output to the client terminal side.
Then, the consumer who has recognized the fee information output to the client terminal side can use the utility usage amount or its pattern for each attribute such as day of the week, month, day, season, etc. Is used to easily and accurately recognize the optimal supply and demand contract to be concluded with the utility company during the billing period, and the optimal contract with the utility company during the future billing period. A supply and demand contract can be concluded. Furthermore, since the charge information affects the predicted usage related to the utility usage in the future billing period, the utility usage is recognized in what state the expected usage is reduced. Thus, it is possible to recognize an appropriate utility usage state in a future billing period.

The sixth feature configuration of the supply and demand contract support system according to the present invention, in addition to any one of the feature configurations described above, each of the usage amounts is a usage amount per unit time,
In the fee calculation method, a different utility unit price is set for each unit price setting time zone.

  According to the sixth feature configuration described above, the utility company uses the utility usage amount per unit time such as one hour, such as the actual usage amount, the predicted usage amount, and the period usage amount. In the charge calculation methods for multiple supply and demand contracts, even if utility unit prices that are different depending on the unit price setting time period, such as daytime hours, nighttime hours, or other time zones, are set, the above unit time The usage amount of the utility can be recognized for each unit price setting time zone, and the usage amount of the utility for each unit price setting time zone can be recognized. The utility fee when each supply-demand contract is applied can be easily calculated from the utility usage amount for each unit price setting time zone and the charge calculation method for each supply-demand contract.

  The seventh characteristic configuration of the supply and demand contract support system according to the present invention collects the actual usage amount by communicating with the measuring unit on the customer side in addition to any one of the above characteristic configurations, and stores it in the database. The automatic meter reading means for storing is provided.

According to the seventh characteristic configuration, the automatic meter reading means automatically communicates with the measuring unit on the customer side, collects the actual usage from the measuring unit, and stores it in the database. The meter reading operation for the weighing unit of the consumer can be simplified.
In addition, in each charge calculation method for a plurality of supply and demand contracts, even if utility unit prices that are different for each unit price setting time period are set in a complicated manner, the automatic metering means can easily and accurately use the unit amount per unit time. It is possible to calculate utility fees when collecting and simply applying each supply and demand contract from the usage amount for each unit time zone.

  In an eighth feature configuration of the supply and demand contract support system according to the present invention, in addition to any one of the feature configurations described above, the support server device applies each of all the supply and demand contracts in the utility fee calculation step. The utility fee is calculated, and in the fee information output step, the optimum supply-demand contract information capable of recognizing the optimum supply-demand contract that minimizes the utility fee is output as the fee information.

  According to the eighth characteristic configuration, the support server device calculates the utility fee for each of all the supply-demand contracts in the utility fee calculation step, so that the optimal supply-demand contract is calculated in the fee information output step. All utility charges, etc. when applying each of the contents and all supply-demand contracts can be output as the above-mentioned optimal supply-demand contract information, and the consumer recognizes the optimal supply-demand contract information and is currently in progress The supply and demand contract concluded during the billing period can be selected as a supply and demand contract that can minimize the utility fee.

  According to a ninth characteristic configuration of the supply and demand contract support system according to the present invention, in addition to any of the characteristic configurations described above, the support server device accepts a change in the supply and demand contract concluded by the customer from the client terminal. The contract reception process is configured to be executable.

  According to the ninth characteristic configuration, by configuring the support server device so that the supply and demand contract acceptance process can be executed in addition to the charge simulation processing described so far, the customer can support the server server device. Based on the charge information output to the client terminal by executing the charge simulation process, the supply and demand contract to be concluded with the utility company after the charge billing period is selected, and the support server device further includes the above By executing the supply and demand contract acceptance process, it is possible to apply to the utility company in real time for a change in the supply and demand contract.

  An embodiment of a supply and demand contract support system (hereinafter referred to as “the present invention system”) according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, the system of the present invention is installed on the side of a gas company 10 that sells gas as a utility to each consumer 1, and is connected to an Internet network 7 (an example of a communication network). Are configured with a support server device 20 (hereinafter referred to as “WEB server 20”).
In addition, you may install this invention system so that it may be not the gas company 10 side but the other information provision company commissioned from the gas company 10, for example.

As shown in FIG. 3, the WEB server 20 includes a communication unit 20 a that communicates with each client terminal 4 via the Internet network 7, and uses hardware resources of the computer system on the computer of the computer system. By using and executing a predetermined computer program, it functions as a processing unit 20b that executes various processes such as a charge simulation process and a supply and demand contract change process, which will be described later.
Such a computer program is installed in a recording device accessible by a computer constituting the WEB server 20 in hardware via a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a data transmission medium such as the Internet. To be served.

  Furthermore, the WEB server 20 is configured to be accessible to a meter reading database 12, a contract information database 21, and a customer information database 22 which will be described later.

  The client terminal 4 is an ordinary personal computer, and includes a main body, a display screen, and input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse. Further, the client terminal 4 is equipped with software such as a browser so as to be able to access various WEB sites on the Internet, and the XML (Extensible Markup Language), XSL (Extensible Stylesheet Language), or HTML (Hyper Text Markage). ) Data such as a format is transmitted and received, and page screens of various WEB sites can be displayed on the display screen of the client terminal 4.

  Referring to FIG. 1, a gas company 10 concludes a supply and demand contract with each customer 1 based on a supply contract, a selection contract, etc. determined by the gas company 10, and the demand for which the above supply and demand contract is concluded. Supply gas to House 1.

A gas meter 2 that measures the amount of gas used is provided on the consumer 1 side that uses the gas supplied from the gas company 10.
The gas meter 2 generates one metering pulse every time a unit flow rate of gas is used, and displays the product of the total number of metering pulses and the unit flow rate as an integrated value of the gas usage amount of the customer 1. And output.

Further, the gas meter 2 is provided with a load meter 3 for measuring the amount of gas used per unit time of the gas.
That is, the load meter 3 is composed of a computer having a display unit 3f, an operation unit 3g, and the like. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, an actual usage amount generation unit 3a and display information generation to be described later are performed. The unit 3b, the communication unit 3c, the memory 3d, the timer 3e, the display unit 3f, the operation unit 3g, etc.

  The actual usage amount generation unit 3a of the load meter 3 receives the measurement pulses from the gas meter 2, and counts the number of measurement pulses input every hour (unit time) measured by the timer 3e. The product of the number of metering pulses per hour and the unit flow rate is used as the actual gas usage per hour, and the actual usage related to the actual gas usage is measured and stored in the memory 3d. .

The display information generation unit 3b of the load meter 3 displays the actual usage amount stored in the memory 3d on the display unit 3f in an appropriately processed state based on the display request input to the operation unit 3g. It is configured.
For example, the display information generation unit 3b obtains the total gas usage obtained by integrating the gas usage per hour or the gas usage per hour during a specific period such as a holiday or weekday. Gas usage for a specified period, gas usage for a specific time period obtained by integrating gas usage every hour in a specific time zone such as nighttime or daytime, and maximum gas in a specific period such as the past three months A usage amount or the like can be generated using the actual usage amount stored in the memory 3d and displayed on the display unit 3f.

  The communication unit 3c of the load meter 3 is used for automatic meter reading such as a public telephone line or a dedicated line with an automatic meter reading server device 11 (an example of automatic meter reading means) (hereinafter referred to as "meter reading server 11"). Connected to the communication network 6, for example, is configured to transmit the actual usage amount stored in the memory 3 d every hour to the meter reading server 11 side via the automatic meter reading communication network 6.

  On the other hand, the meter-reading server 11 communicates with the communication unit 3c of the load meter 3 to collect the actual usage amount and stores it in the meter-reading database 12 for each customer 1, whereby the meter-reading database 12 includes The actual usage amount capable of recognizing the hourly gas usage amount of each consumer 1 is stored in substantially real time.

  With reference to FIG. 1, the meter-reading server 11 is based on the charge calculation method defined in the supply-and-demand contract concluded with the consumer 1 from the actual usage amount thus stored in the meter-reading database 12. A gas charge in one month (an example of a charge billing period) is calculated, and billing processing for charging the calculated gas charge to the customer 1 is executed.

  The actual usage amount stored in the meter reading database 12 may be collected by another method other than the one collected by the automatic meter reading by the meter reading server 11 as described above.

  Further, the gas company 10 may have set up a plurality of supply and demand contracts with different charge calculation methods for the gas usage of the customer 1 as a supply and demand contract concluded with the customer 1. In one supply-demand contract, daytime (for example, 10: 00-17: 00), nighttime (for example, 23: 00-77: 00), and life time on weekdays (for example, 7: 00-10: 00,17) : 0-23: 00) (hereinafter referred to as weekday specific time) and the like, there are cases where different gas unit prices are set for each unit price setting time zone.

The contract information database 21 stores information on supply contracts, selection contracts, and the like determined by the gas company 10.
In other words, the information stored in the contract information database 21 is set by the applicable consumer classification and charge calculation method in each of a plurality of supply and demand contracts that the customer 1 can conclude with the gas company 10. The unit price of gas and the unit price of gas in each unit price setting time period, the basic charge for each month, and the like can be recognized.
Further, the information stored in the supply and demand contract information database 21 is updated to new information when the gas company 10 newly establishes or changes the supply agreement, the selection agreement, and the like.

In the customer information database 22, recognition information such as an address, name, ID, and password that can be recognized by the customer 1 who has received registration at the WEB site for supply and demand contract support described later, and the customer 1 is a gas company. Various types of customer information such as the type of supply and demand contracts concluded with 10 are stored for each customer 1.
That is, from the customer information stored in the customer information database 22, authentication processing of the customer 1 accessing the WEB server 20 from the client terminal 4 is performed, and furthermore, the supply and demand contract concluded by the customer 1 is executed. Can be recognized.

The WEB server 20 has a function as a WEB server that manages a WEB site that provides various processing screens for providing various services to each client terminal 4 in the WEB format via the Internet network 7.
Further, in response to an access from the client terminal 4, the WEB server 20 transmits display data that can display a screen corresponding to the access on the display screen of the client terminal 4 to the client terminal 4 in the XML format or the like. It is configured.
On the other hand, on the client terminal 4 side, the browser software processes the display data in the XML format or the like and displays a corresponding screen on the display screen. Thereby, the WEB server 20 can display various screens on the display screen of the client terminal 4, and receives data input on the display screen from the client terminal 4 in an XML format or the like. Can do.

In this way, by transmitting and receiving data in XML format between the WEB server 20 and the client terminal 4, it is possible to display predetermined screen information from the WEB server 20 on the client terminal 4 only by providing the client terminal 4 with general-purpose software. On the contrary, the data input on the display screen can be easily received from the client terminal 4.
In the following description, transmission / reception of data between the WEB server 20 and the client terminal 4 is data exchange protocol on the Internet such as HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) unless otherwise specified. It is executed by transmitting and receiving.

  First, the WEB server 20 displays an <access initial screen> for authentication as shown in FIG. 4 on the client terminal 4 side that has accessed, and an ID, a password, etc. for recognizing the consumer to the customer 1 The recognition information is input, and the input recognition information is collated with the recognition information stored in the customer information database 22 to perform an authentication process.

When the WEB server 20 can authenticate the customer 1 as described above, the <menu screen> for causing the customer 1 to select the service content as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the client terminal 4 side.
Here, on this <menu screen>, “(1) Gas usage status notification service” button and “(2) Optimal usage method notification service” include “(a) Charge comparison” button, “( “b) Charge simulation” button, “(c) Maintenance check notification” button, and “(3) Supply / demand contract change” button are arranged. When these buttons are selected, the WEB server 20 executes various processes.
In the WEB server 20, the charge simulation process executed by the charge simulation processing unit 20b is executed when the “(b) charge simulation” button is selected, and the supply and demand executed by the supply and demand contract change processing unit 20c. The contract change process is configured to be executed when the “(3) Supply / demand contract change” button is selected.
Hereinafter, processing executed by the WEB server 20 when the various buttons are selected will be described.

[(1) Gas usage status notification service]
When the “(1) gas usage status notification service” button shown in FIG. 5 is selected, the WEB server 20 displays a <gas usage status notification service> screen as shown in FIG. 6 on the client terminal 4 side.
This screen shows “All-day gas consumption”, which is the total gas usage for all days up to the current day in the current month, “Night-time gas usage”, which is the total gas usage for the current night in the current month, “Maximum gas usage”, which is the amount of gas used on the day when the most gas was used, and “Weekday specific time gas usage”, which is the total of gas usage at the specified time on weekdays to date for the current month. A value indicating the gas usage state of 1 is displayed. In addition, these values are calculated by the WEB server 20 using the actual usage amount for each hour of the customer 1 stored in the meter reading database 12 for the current month.

  Further, the WEB server 20 displays a graph showing the actual usage amount of the customer 1 in the current month in time series such as hourly or daily when the “Graph” button is selected on the <Gas Usage Status Notification Service> screen. When the “List” button is selected, a list showing the actual usage amount of the customer 1 for the current month in time series such as hourly or daily is displayed, or the “Data Town Load” button is displayed. When selected, the actual usage amount of the customer 1 in the current month is downloaded as data in the csv format or the like.

[(2) Information on optimal usage information service]
[(A) Price comparison]
When the “(a) Charge comparison” button as “(2) Optimal usage method notification service” shown in FIG. 5 is selected, the WEB server 20 displays a <charge comparison> screen as shown in FIG. Display on the terminal 4 side.
On this screen, demands such as “All-day gas usage”, “Night-time gas usage”, “Maximum gas usage”, “Weekday specific time gas usage” are the same as the <Gas usage status notification service> screen above. A value indicating the gas usage status of the house 1 is displayed, and the contents of the “rate plan”, which is the type of the supply-demand contract that the customer 1 has concluded with the gas company, and the supply-demand contract The value of “gas charge”, which is the gas charge up to the present month in the case of applying the charge calculation method that has been applied, is displayed.

  In addition, regarding the contents of the above “rate plan”, the WEB server 20 is in a supply and demand contract that the customer 1 has concluded with the gas company 10 from the customer information stored in the customer information database 22. For the value of “gas charge” recognized from the type, the demand extracted from the meter reading database 12 using the charge calculation method defined in the supply and demand contract extracted from the information stored in the contract information database 21 It is calculated from the actual usage amount for every hour of House 1 in the current month.

  In addition, the <Charge Comparison> screen shown in FIG. 7 includes a charge comparison button for comparing gas charges for each of a plurality of supply and demand contracts between the supply and demand contract concluded by the customer 1 and other supply and demand contracts. A “current month” button for comparing the gas charges for the minute and a “□ month” button for comparing the gas charges for the past month are displayed.

When the “current month” button is selected, as shown in FIG. 8, the WEB server 20 makes a plurality of supply and demand in the period up to the present time in the same month as in the case of “current month”. A gas charge (for example, shown as A to D plans in FIG. 9) obtained using the charge calculation method defined in each of the contracts is displayed.
Further, the WEB server 20 uses the charge calculation method defined in the supply and demand contract currently concluded by the customer 1 for each gas charge (for example, shown as A plan in FIG. 8). ”Is displayed as“ contracting ”and this is recognized as an indication of the gas rate when the supply and demand contract is not changed for the customer 1, while the lowest gas rate (for example, , Which is shown as the C plan in FIG. 8) is displayed as “lowest”, and this is made to be recognized as an indication of the gas rate when the supply-demand contract is changed for the customer 1.

  On the other hand, when the “□ month” button is selected with the month entered in the “□” portion, the WEB server 20 performs the above operation in the entered month as shown in FIG. Similarly, the gas charges (for example, those shown as A to D plans in FIG. 9) obtained by using the charge calculation method defined in each of a plurality of supply and demand contracts are displayed, and each gas is displayed. “Contract” and “Lowest” are displayed for the charge.

  As described above, the WEB server 20 displays such a <fee comparison> screen on the client terminal 4 side, so that the supply-demand contract currently concluded with the gas company for the customer 1 However, it is possible to recognize whether it has been effective in reducing the gas charge compared to other supply-demand contracts. Therefore, the gas charge charged to the customer 1 from a plurality of supply-demand contracts can be reduced as much as possible. It is possible to assist the customer 1 in selecting a supply and demand contract that can be reduced.

[(B) Charge simulation]
When the “(b) Charge simulation” button as “(2) Optimal usage information notification service” shown in FIG. 5 is selected, the WEB server 20 displays a <charge simulation> screen as shown in FIG. Display on the terminal 4 side.
In this screen, as in the above <Rate comparison> screen, “All-day gas usage”, “Night gas usage”, “Maximum gas usage”, “Weekday specific hour gas usage”, “Price plan”, “Gas rate” is displayed.

Furthermore, the <Charge simulation> screen shown in FIG. 10 displays a "Simulation" button for simulating what the gas charge will be when the current month ends during the current month. When the “simulation” button is selected, the WEB server 20 executes a charge simulation process described later.
Hereinafter, the charge simulation process will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

  As shown in the example of the actual usage amount and the predicted usage amount in the current month in FIG. 12 in the fee simulation process, the WEB server 20 calculates the actual usage amount per hour in the past period, which is the past period of the current month. An actual usage amount acquisition step (step # 1) acquired from the meter reading database 12 and a predicted usage amount that is an hourly gas usage amount for the prediction of the customer 1 in an unexplored period that is a future period of the current month is generated. The predicted usage amount generation step (step # 2) is executed, and the actual usage amount of the previous period and the predicted usage amount of the previous period in this month are synthesized, and the hourly gas usage amount of the customer 1 in the current month. A period usage amount generation step (step # 3) for generating a period usage amount is executed.

Further, the WEB server 20 calculates a gas charge when a predetermined supply-demand contract selected from a plurality of supply-demand contracts is applied, from the period use-amount obtained by executing the period-use-amount generation step of step # 3. A gas charge calculation step (step # 4) is executed.
Here, the predetermined supply-demand contract indicates an arbitrary supply-demand contract such as a supply-demand contract currently concluded by the customer 1 and other supply-demand contracts. For example, unless specified by the customer 1, the supply-demand contract currently concluded If there is a designation, the designated supply-demand contract is designated.
Such a supply-demand contract can be specified by causing the customer 1 to select a supply-demand contract selection button displayed on the screen.

Then, the WEB server 20 performs a charge information output step (step # 5) for outputting the charge information regarding the gas charge obtained by executing the utility charge calculation step of step # 4 on the display screen on the client terminal 4 side. Execute.
Specifically, the WEB server 20 displays the <Simulation Result> screen shown in FIG. 13 on the client terminal 4 side, for example, and the gas fee itself for the current month obtained by executing the utility fee calculation step on the screen. Is displayed.

  Furthermore, on this <Simulation Result> screen, in addition to the gas charges for the current month as described above, the total actual usage for the current month obtained by executing the actual usage acquisition step and the predicted usage generation step It is possible to display the total estimated usage in the previous period of the current month obtained by executing, to display the gas charges charged in the same month of the previous year, and to the current month obtained in the period usage generation step You may display the graph which shows the amount of period use in time series of every hour or every day, the graph which shows the amount of actual use in the same month last year in time series of every hour or every day, etc.

  Next, the first to third predicted usage amount generation methods will be described as the predicted usage amount generation method in the above-described predicted usage amount generation step.

In the first predicted usage generation method, the WEB server 20 is configured to be able to generate a predicted usage based on the actual usage in the past period.
For example, the WEB server 20 extracts the actual usage amount for the past one week from the actual usage amount in the past period based on the current time, and applies the actual usage amount for the past week to the future based on the current time, It is possible to generate a predicted usage amount in an unprecedented period.

In the second predicted usage amount generation method, the WEB server 20 extracts the actual usage amount having the same attribute such as the same day of the week, the same month and day, and the same season from the meter reading database 21 in the previous period, and sets the actual usage amount as the actual usage amount. Based on this, it is possible to generate a predicted usage amount.
For example, the actual usage amount during the same number of days in the same month of the previous year as compared with the previous period of the current month can be generated as it is as the predicted usage amount of the previous period.
In addition, the actual usage in the same month of the previous year is not directly used as the predicted usage in the previous period, but in the previous period, the actual usage in the past week is calculated from the actual usage in the previous period based on the current time. It is also possible to generate an estimated usage amount in the previous period in a form that assumes consumption in the pattern of actual usage in the same month of the previous year.

In the third method of generating predicted usage, the WEB server 20 receives usage schedule information related to the scheduled gas usage of the customer 1 in the previous period from the client terminal 4, and uses the predicted usage based on the usage schedule information. The amount is configured to be generated.
For example, for the client terminal 4, the usage pattern in the past period, specifically, the ratio of the gas usage at night, the ratio of the gas usage on holidays, the gas at a specific time on weekdays with respect to the total gas usage Display a screen that allows you to enter information that can recognize gas usage patterns, such as the percentage of usage, as the above-mentioned usage schedule information, and use the usage schedule information entered on that screen to determine the actual usage volume in the past period. From this point of view, it is possible to generate an estimated usage amount in the past period in a form that assumes that the total of the actual usage amount for the past week is consumed in a usage amount pattern that can be recognized from the input usage schedule information. it can.

Note that, in each of the above-described generation methods of predicted usage, the predicted usage in the previous period may be corrected in consideration of other factors such as the climate.
Also, such a method of generating the predicted usage amount can be specified by causing the customer 1 to select a selection button displayed on the screen of the client terminal 4.

  Based on the information displayed on the <Price simulation> and <Simulation result> screens, the customer 1 determines that the supply-demand contract currently concluded with the gas company in this month is another supply-demand contract. It is possible to determine whether or not the supply and demand contract concluded in the current month should be changed by predicting whether or not it is effective in reducing the gas charge.

  As described above, the WEB server 20 displays the above <Price simulation> and <Simulation result> screens on the client terminal 4 side, so that the customer 1 can communicate with the current gas company in this month. It can be recognized whether the concluded supply-demand contract is effective in reducing gas charges compared to other supply-demand contracts. Therefore, it should be concluded in this month from multiple supply-demand contracts. It can assist the customer 1 to select the supply-demand contract.

[(C) Notice of maintenance check]
When the “(c) Maintenance check notification” button as “(2) Optimal usage method notification service” shown in FIG. 5 is selected, the WEB server 20 displays <Information> The screen is displayed on the client terminal 4 side.
On this screen, as in the above <Gas usage status notification service> screen, "All-day gas usage", "Night gas usage", "Maximum gas usage", "Weekday specific time gas usage", etc. A value indicating the gas usage state of the customer 1 is displayed, the rated gas usage of the gas equipment owned by the customer 1 registered in advance, the minimum gas usage, the last maintenance date of the gas equipment, And the maintenance recommended operation time of the gas equipment is displayed.
Furthermore, the WEB server 20 refers to the actual usage amount of each hour of the customer 1 stored in the meter reading database 21, and after the previous maintenance date, exceeds the minimum gas usage amount of the gas appliance. The time when the gas is used is measured, and the time is displayed on the screen as the accumulated operation time of the gas equipment.
Further, the WEB server 20 obtains the operation time of the gas device every day from the number of days since the previous maintenance date and the accumulated operation time of the gas device, and records the operation time of the gas device from the daily operation time. The number of days until the accumulated operation time reaches the recommended maintenance operation time is obtained, and the date that has passed that number of days from the present is displayed as the recommended time maintenance date.
Therefore, the customer 1 can use such information displayed on the <notification of maintenance / inspection time> screen as a guideline for determining the scheduled maintenance date of the gas appliance.

[(3) Supply-demand contract change]
When the “(3) Supply / demand contract change” button shown in FIG. 5 is selected, the WEB server 20 executes a supply / demand contract reception process for receiving a change in the supply / demand contract concluded by the customer 1 from the client terminal 4.
Specifically, the gas company 10 changes the supply-demand contract currently concluded in the current month to another supply-demand contract even during the current month (for example, up to one week before the end of the current month). Admit.
Therefore, the WEB server 20 displays a screen for changing the supply-demand contract on the client terminal 4 side, and the customer 1 selects a predetermined button on the screen, so that the supply-demand contract is changed from the client terminal 4. Is configured to accept.

  Therefore, the customer 1 reduces the gas charge by changing the supply-demand contract currently concluded with the gas company in the current month based on the information displayed on the <Charge Simulation> and <Simulation Result> screens described above. If it is determined that it is effective, it is possible to apply for a change in the supply-demand contract immediately.

[Another embodiment]
Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.
<1> In the above embodiment, in the middle of the current month, the charge simulation process is executed to synthesize the actual usage in the previous period and the predicted usage in the previous period in the current month, The period usage for the current month is calculated, the utility fee is calculated from the period usage, and the fee information related to the utility fee is output to the client terminal 4 side. A predicted usage amount in the future billing period may be obtained, a utility fee may be calculated from the predicted usage amount, and fee information regarding the utility fee may be output to the client terminal 4 side.
Further, in this case, the predicted usage amount in the future billing period is the same day of the week, the same month and day, the same season, etc. as the future billing period, as in the above-described second predicted usage generation method. The actual usage amount having the same attribute can be extracted from the meter reading database 21 and generated based on the actual usage amount.

<2> In the above embodiment, the example in which the supply and demand contract support system according to the present invention is applied as a utility has been described. However, the supply and demand contract support system according to the present invention is separately applied to electricity or water supply. This is applicable even when using another utility such as.

<3> In the above-described embodiment, the consumer 1 is not limited to an individual, and may be an apartment house such as an apartment, a company, or the like.

  The supply and demand contract support system according to the present invention easily and accurately supports the selection of a supply and demand contract to be concluded with a utility company such as gas, electricity and water during the charge billing period even during the charge billing period. Thus, the present invention can be suitably used as a supply and demand contract support system that can recognize an appropriate utility usage state in an unprecedented period that is a future period within the billing period.

Schematic configuration diagram of supply and demand contract support system Schematic diagram of load meter Schematic diagram of WEB server Figure showing a display screen example Figure showing a display screen example Figure showing a display screen example Figure showing a display screen example Figure showing a display screen example Figure showing a display screen example Figure showing a display screen example Charge simulation process flow chart A graph showing an example of actual usage and predicted usage for the current month Figure showing a display screen example Figure showing a display screen example

Explanation of symbols

1: Consumer 2: Gas meter (metering unit)
3: Load meter 4: Client terminal 10: Gas company (utility company)
11: Server device for automatic meter reading (automatic meter reading means)
12: Meter reading database 20: WEB server (support server device)

Claims (9)

When a plurality of supply and demand contracts are set as supply and demand contracts concluded between a utility company that supplies utilities and consumers who use the utilities, and the charge calculation methods for the utility usage of the consumers are different from each other A supply-demand contract support system that supports the customer to select a supply-demand contract to be concluded with the utility company from the plurality of supply-demand contracts,
It is possible to communicate with a client terminal installed on the customer side, and the actual usage amount is obtained from a database that stores the actual usage amount that is the actual utility usage measured by the weighing unit on the consumer side. Extractable support server device
An actual usage amount obtaining step of obtaining the actual usage amount in the past period, which is a past period within a predetermined billing period, from the database;
A predicted usage amount generating step for generating a predicted usage amount that is a utility usage amount of the customer's prediction in a past period that is a future period within the billing period;
A period usage generation step for generating a period usage that is a utility usage of the consumer within the billing period by combining the actual usage and the predicted usage;
A utility fee calculating step for calculating a utility fee when applying the predetermined supply-demand contract selected from the plurality of supply-demand contracts from the period usage amount;
A supply and demand contract support system configured to execute a charge simulation process for sequentially executing a charge information output step of outputting charge information relating to the utility charge to the client terminal side.   In the predicted usage amount generation step, the support server device receives usage schedule information regarding the utility usage amount scheduled by the customer in the unprecedented period from the client terminal, and the prediction is performed based on the usage schedule information. The supply and demand contract support system according to claim 1, wherein the supply and demand contract support system is configured to be able to generate a usage amount.   The supply and demand contract support system according to claim 1, wherein the support server device is configured to be able to generate the predicted usage based on the actual usage in the past period in the predicted usage generation step.   The support server device is configured to be able to generate an actual usage amount having the same attribute as the previous period from the database and generate the predicted usage amount based on the actual usage amount in the predicted usage amount generation step. The supply and demand contract support system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. When a plurality of supply and demand contracts are set as supply and demand contracts concluded between a utility company that supplies utilities and consumers who use the utilities, and the charge calculation methods for the utility usage of the consumers are different from each other A supply-demand contract support system that supports the customer to select a supply-demand contract to be concluded with the utility company from the plurality of supply-demand contracts,
It is possible to communicate with a client terminal installed on the customer side, and the actual usage amount is obtained from a database that stores the actual usage amount that is the actual utility usage measured by the weighing unit on the consumer side. Extractable support server device
Predictive usage that acquires the actual usage amount having the same attribute as the future billing period from the database and generates the predicted usage amount that is the utility usage amount of the consumer prediction in the billing period based on the actual usage amount A quantity generation step;
A utility fee calculating step of calculating a utility fee when applying the predetermined supply-demand contract selected from the plurality of supply-demand contracts from the predicted usage amount;
A supply and demand contract support system configured to execute a charge simulation process for sequentially executing a charge information output step of outputting charge information relating to the utility charge to the client terminal side. Each of the usage amounts is a usage amount per unit time,
The supply and demand contract support system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a different utility unit price is set for each unit price setting time zone in the fee calculation method.   The supply-demand contract support system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising automatic meter-reading means that performs communication with the measuring unit on the customer side to collect an actual usage amount and stores the actual usage amount in the database. .   In the utility fee calculation step, the support server device calculates a utility fee when each of all the supply and demand contracts is applied, and in the fee information output step, the optimum supply and demand that minimizes the utility fee is calculated. The supply and demand contract support system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein optimum supply and demand contract information capable of recognizing a contract is output as the fee information.   The supply and demand according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the support server device is configured to be able to execute a supply and demand contract reception process for receiving a change in the supply and demand contract concluded by the customer from the client terminal. Contract support system.

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