JP2023022715A - Information processing device, information processing method, and program toward construction of de-carbonized society - Google Patents

Abstract

SOLUTION: An information processing device may include an acquisition unit that acquires a load factor indicating a ratio of average power to maximum power of a customer for a predetermined period of time. The information processing device may include a selection unit that, based on the load factor and as an electricity supplier that should be presented to a customer, selects any one of a retail electricity supplier equivalent to a former general electricity supplier, a retail electricity supplier other than the former general electricity supplier, and the customer himself/herself who has acquired a license for a retail electricity supplier. The information processing device may include an output unit that outputs a selection result of the selection unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program.

Patent Literature 1 describes an electricity rate plan selection system capable of selecting an optimal rate plan for an electricity consumer.
[Prior art documents]
[Patent Literature]
[Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5717113

An information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention may include an acquisition unit that acquires a load factor that indicates the ratio of average power to maximum power for a predetermined period of time for a customer. Based on the load factor, the information processing device selects a retail electricity supplier equivalent to the former general electricity supplier, a retail electricity supplier other than the former general electricity supplier, and a retail electricity supplier as power suppliers to be presented to the customer based on the load factor. a selection unit for selecting any one of the licensed customers themselves. The information processing device may include an output unit that outputs the selection result of the selection unit.

When the load factor is equal to or less than the first threshold, the selection unit may select the customer himself/herself who has obtained the license of the electricity retailer as the power supplier. When the load factor is greater than the first threshold and less than the second threshold, the selection unit may select a retail electricity supplier other than the former general electricity supplier as the power supplier. When the load factor is equal to or greater than the second threshold, the selection unit may select a retail electricity supplier corresponding to the former general electricity supplier as an electricity supplier.

The acquisition unit may acquire a predicted load factor indicating a load factor that offsets the power supplied from the renewable energy power generation equipment when the customer installs the renewable energy power generation equipment. Even when the load factor is equal to or higher than the second threshold, the selection unit may select the customer himself/herself who has obtained the license of the electricity retailer as the power supplier when the predicted load factor is equal to or lower than the first threshold.

The output unit may output a selection result including a message recommending introduction of renewable energy power generation equipment when the predicted load factor is smaller than the first threshold.

The acquisition unit acquires the load factor for each customer's power supply point, and furthermore, for supply points where the load factor is equal to or higher than the second threshold, renewable energy power generation equipment is introduced when renewable energy power generation equipment is introduced at the supply point. A predicted load factor may be acquired that indicates a load factor that offsets the power supplied from the facility. When the load factor or the predicted load factor is equal to or lower than the first threshold value at all supply points, the selection unit may select the customer himself/herself who has obtained the license of the retail electricity supplier as the power supplier.

The acquisition unit obtains, for each power supply point of the customer, a load factor and a predicted load factor that indicates the load factor that offsets the power supplied from the renewable energy power generation facility when introducing the renewable energy power generation facility at the supply point. can be obtained. The selection unit may select the customer himself/herself who has acquired the license of the retail electricity supplier as the power supplier of the supply point whose load factor or predicted load factor is equal to or lower than the first threshold.

The acquisition department acquires the load factor for each customer's power supply point, and for supply points where renewable energy power generation equipment can be introduced, the load factor is calculated by offsetting the power supplied from the renewable energy power generation equipment. You may obtain the predicted load factor shown. The selection unit may select the customer himself/herself who has acquired the license of the retail electricity supplier as the power supplier of the supply point whose load factor or predicted load factor is equal to or lower than the first threshold.

The output unit may output a selection result including a message recommending introduction of renewable energy power generation equipment for supply points with predicted load factors smaller than the first threshold.

The renewable energy power generation facility may be a photovoltaic power generation facility.

If the load factor is greater than the first threshold and less than the second threshold, the acquiring unit selects the retail electricity that offers the lowest electricity rate in a reverse auction from among a plurality of retail electricity utilities other than the former general electricity utility. Information about the business may be obtained. If the load factor is greater than the first threshold and less than the second threshold, the selection unit may select the electricity retailer indicated in the information as the electricity supplier.

If the customer is a company that aims to procure all the energy consumed in its business activities from renewable energy, the selection part will select renewable energy with tracking information as the power to be procured, regardless of the type of power supplier. You can choose energy only.

An information processing method according to an aspect of the present invention may include obtaining a load factor that indicates the ratio of average power to maximum power for a predetermined period of time for a customer. Based on the load factor, the information processing method selects a retail electricity supplier equivalent to the former general electricity supplier, a retail electricity supplier other than the former general electricity supplier, and a retail electricity supplier as power suppliers to be presented to customers based on the load factor. selecting any one of the licensed customers themselves. The information processing method may comprise the step of outputting the selection result of the selecting step.

A program according to an aspect of the present invention includes steps of acquiring a load factor indicating a ratio of average power to maximum power in a predetermined period of a customer; a step of selecting any one of a retail electricity supplier equivalent to the former general electricity supplier, a retail electricity supplier other than the former general electricity supplier, and the customer himself/herself who has acquired a retail electricity supplier license; It may be a program for causing a computer to execute the selecting step and the step of outputting the selection result.

It should be noted that the above summary of the invention does not list all the features of the invention. Subcombinations of these feature groups can also be inventions.

It is a figure which shows an example of the whole structure of an electric power supplier selection system. 3 is a functional block diagram of an information processing device; FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of a procedure for selecting a power supplier; FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing another example of a power procurement source selection procedure; FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a hardware configuration.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention, but the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Also, not all combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential for the solution of the invention.

In recent years, there has been a demand for reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG emissions). Large electricity consumers (customers) are also working to reduce GHG emissions. Large-scale electricity consumers can also work to reduce GHG emissions by purchasing non-fossil fuel certificates, which represent environmental value, together with electricity through retail electricity suppliers. Furthermore, with the establishment of the renewable energy value trading market, large-scale power consumers will be able to directly purchase FIT non-fossil certificates (FIT certificates), which are one of the non-fossil certificates for renewable energy, thereby reducing GHG emissions. The width of the selection of the initiative will expand.

By the way, a large power consumer consumes a large amount of power and the electricity rate is high. Therefore, large-scale electricity consumers are making efforts to reduce electricity charges by reviewing electricity supply contracts. If the electricity rate drops, the money saved can be used to purchase FIT non-fossil certificates, making it easier to contribute to efforts to build a decarbonized society.

In order to reduce electricity charges, it is also conceivable to change the electricity supplier. Retail electric utilities equivalent to the former general electric utilities, so-called regional power companies, and retail electric utilities other than the former general electric utilities, so-called new electric power companies, can be selected by large-scale electricity consumers. There is Furthermore, it is conceivable that the electric power consumer himself/herself obtains a retail electricity business license and purchases electricity directly. In other words, as electricity procurement sources that can be selected by large-scale electricity consumers, licenses have been obtained for retail electricity suppliers equivalent to former general electricity suppliers, retail electricity suppliers other than former general electricity suppliers, and retail electricity suppliers. There are power consumers themselves.

However, it is not easy for electric power consumers to select the optimum electric power supplier from multiple electric power suppliers while working to reduce GHG emissions.

Therefore, in the power supplier selection system according to the present embodiment, a power consumer can easily select an optimum power supplier from among a plurality of power suppliers.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a power supplier selection system 10. As shown in FIG. The power supplier selection system 10 includes an information processing device 100 , a smart meter 210 , a reverse auction system 300 and a display terminal 500 . The smart meter 210 is installed in the electrical equipment of each customer's office 200 . The information processing device 100, the smart meter 210, the reverse auction system 300, and the display terminal 500 are communicably connected to each other via a network 50 such as the Internet. In this embodiment, each office 200 is supplied with high voltage power or extra high voltage power as the power type.

The smart meter 210 measures customer energy consumption such as power consumption (kWh) and gas consumption (m3) per unit time (eg, 30 minutes or 1 hour). The smart meter 20 transmits the measured energy consumption data for each unit time to the information processing device 100 . The display terminal 500 displays various information provided from the information processing device 100 . The display terminal 500 may be a smartphone owned by the customer, a portable terminal such as a tablet, a personal computer, or the like.

The information processing device 100 selects a power supplier to be presented to the customer based on the energy consumption data from the smart meter 210 and outputs the selection result to the display terminal 500 . Reverse auction system 300 provides a buyer-driven auction service. The reverse auction system 300 is a system in which a request for a product (service) desired by a buyer is posted, a seller who browses the request submits an application for the provision of the product (service), and a transaction is established when both conditions are met. offer. The reverse auction system 300 determines the electricity retailer that has offered the lowest electricity rate in the reverse auction from among a plurality of electricity retailers, and provides the information processing apparatus 100 with the electricity retailer.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the information processing device 100. As shown in FIG. The information processing apparatus 100 includes an acquisition unit 102 , a selection unit 104 and an output unit 106 . Acquisition unit 102 acquires a load factor that indicates the ratio of the average power to the maximum power for a customer's predetermined period (for example, one month). The acquisition unit 102 acquires power information indicating power consumption (kWh) per unit time (for example, 30 minutes or 1 hour) from each smart meter 210 . The acquisition unit 102 may acquire power information indicating the power consumption (kWh) of each office 200 from a power management server that manages the power consumption of each office 200 . The acquisition unit 102 may acquire power information indicating the contract power of each office 200 in addition to the power consumption (kWh) of each office 200 from the power management server.

The acquisition unit 102 may calculate the monthly power consumption (kWh) from the power consumption (kWh) per unit time. The acquisition unit 102 may calculate the load factor of each office 200 by monthly power consumption (kWh)/24 hours/30 days/contract power consumption×100.

Based on the load factor, the selection unit 104 selects a retail electricity supplier equivalent to the former general electricity supplier, a retail electricity supplier other than the former general electricity supplier, and a retail electricity supplier as power suppliers to be presented to the customer. Select any one of the licensed customers themselves. Based on the load factor of each office 200, the selection unit 104 selects a retail electricity supplier equivalent to the former general electricity supplier and a non-former general electricity supplier as power suppliers to be presented to each office 200. Either one of the electricity retailer and the customer who has obtained the retail electricity supplier license may be selected for each place of business 200 .

The output unit 106 outputs the result of selection by the selection unit 104 toward the display terminal 500 . The output unit 106 may output to the display terminal 500 the selection result indicating the power supplier to be presented to the customer. The output unit 106 may output to the display terminal 500 a selection result indicating each power supplier to be presented to each office 200 .

When the load factor is equal to or less than a first threshold value (for example, 20%), the selection unit 104 selects the customer himself/herself who has obtained the license of the electricity retailer as the power supplier. If a customer who has obtained a retail electricity supplier license is selected as an electricity supplier, the customer must obtain a retail electricity supplier license and either own the power plant themselves or establish a Procure the required electricity either by contract or by trading on the Japan Electric Power Exchange (JEPX).

When the load factor is greater than a first threshold (for example, 20%) and less than a second threshold (for example, 70%), the selection unit 104 selects a retail electricity supplier other than the former general electricity supplier as an electricity supplier. to select. Retail electric power companies other than the former general electric power companies are major power companies, that is, so-called new power companies other than regional power companies.

When the load factor is equal to or greater than a second threshold (for example, 70%), the selection unit 104 selects a retail electricity supplier corresponding to the former general electricity supplier as an electricity supplier. The former general electric utilities are major power companies, that is, regional power companies.

There is a possibility that the load factor will decrease as customers introduce renewable energy power generation equipment. When the load factor is reduced, customers who have acquired a retail electricity supplier license are more likely to be selected as power suppliers. If the customer himself/herself with a retail electricity supplier license is selected, the customer's electricity cost is likely to be reduced. Furthermore, the introduction of renewable energy power generation equipment can contribute to the achievement of greenhouse gas reduction targets.

Therefore, the acquisition unit 102 may acquire a predicted load factor indicating a load factor that offsets the power supplied from the renewable energy power generation equipment when the customer introduces the renewable energy power generation equipment. The renewable energy power generation facility may be a photovoltaic power generation facility. The acquisition unit 102 acquires, from a power management server or the like, installation condition information indicating an installation area and an installation direction in which, for example, photovoltaic power generation equipment can be installed by each business operator. The acquisition unit 102 refers to the annual power generation information indicating the annual power generation amount per unit area for each direction, specifies the annual power generation amount of each business operator, and divides the annual power generation amount by 12. A monthly power generation amount may be calculated. Then, the acquiring unit 102 subtracts the monthly power generation amount from the monthly power consumption amount (kWh) to calculate the predicted monthly power consumption amount. The acquisition unit 102 may calculate the predicted load factor of each office 200 by: predicted monthly power consumption (kWh)/24 hours/30 days/contract power consumption×100.

Among the places of business 200, there are places of business that do not meet the installation conditions for the photovoltaic power generation equipment. Therefore, the acquiring unit 102 may calculate the predicted load factor only for the business establishments that satisfy the installation conditions for the photovoltaic power generation equipment, that is, the business establishments that have additionality among the business establishments 200 .

Even if the load factor is equal to or higher than the second threshold, the selecting unit 104 may select the customer himself/herself who has obtained the license of the electricity retailer as the power supplier when the predicted load factor is equal to or lower than the first threshold. Further, when the predicted load factor is smaller than the first threshold, the output unit 106 may output the selection result including a message recommending introduction of renewable energy power generation equipment toward the display terminal 500 . The output unit 106 may output a selection result including a message recommending introduction of renewable energy power generation equipment for supply points with predicted load factors smaller than the first threshold. The output unit 106 may output a selection result including a message recommending the introduction of renewable energy power generation equipment to the corresponding office 200 .

The acquiring unit 102 acquires the load factor for each power supply point of the customer, that is, for each business office 200, and for supply points having a load factor equal to or higher than the second threshold, the renewable energy power generation equipment is installed at the supply point. You may acquire the predicted load factor which shows the load factor which canceled the electric power supplied from renewable energy power generation equipment, when introduce|transducing. If the load factor or the predicted load factor is equal to or lower than the first threshold at all supply points, the selection unit 104 may select the customer himself/herself who has acquired the license of the retail electricity supplier as the power supplier.

The acquisition unit 102 acquires the load factor and the power supplied from the renewable energy power generation facility when the renewable energy power generation facility is introduced at the supply point for each power supply point of the customer, that is, for each office 200. A predicted load factor may be obtained that indicates the offset load factor. The selection unit 104 may select the customer himself/herself who has acquired the license of the retail electricity supplier as the power supplier of the supply point whose load factor or predicted load factor is equal to or lower than the first threshold.

If the load factor is greater than the first threshold and less than the second threshold, the acquisition unit 102 selects the retailer that has presented the lowest electricity rate in a reverse auction from among a plurality of retail electricity suppliers other than the former general electricity supplier. Information about the electric utility may be obtained from the reverse auction system 300 . When the load factor is greater than the first threshold value and less than the second threshold value, the selection unit 104 selects the information on the retail electric power company that offered the lowest electricity price provided by the reverse auction system 300 as the electric power supplier. The retail electricity event party shown may be selected.

If the customer is a company that aims to procure all of the energy consumed in its business activities from renewable energy, that is, if the customer is an RE100 participating company, the selection unit 104 selects a power supplier. Only renewable energy with tracking information may be selected as power to be procured, regardless of the type of energy source. If the customer is an RE100 participating company, the selection unit 104 selects power generated by power generation facilities owned by the company, power purchased from facilities owned by other companies installed on the company's premises, and power installed outside the company's premises. Electricity directly purchased from a power generation facility installed on the company's premises via a dedicated line, power directly procured from a power generation facility installed outside the company's premises via the grid, contract with a retail electricity supplier (renewable energy-derived power menu ) or power procured by purchasing a renewable energy certificate with tracking information may be selected as procured power.

After the selection result indicating the power supplier is presented to the customer, the output unit 106 directly purchases the certificate having the renewable energy value from the renewable energy value trading market, or purchases the certificate from the retail electricity supplier of the presented power supplier. A suggestion message recommending purchase may be output to the customer. If the electricity rate is reduced by changing to the presented power supplier, the output unit 106 directly purchases a certificate having a renewable energy value from the renewable energy value trading market with the cost of the reduction as an upper limit. Alternatively, a proposal message recommending purchase from the retail electricity supplier of the presented electricity supplier may be output to the customer. In the case of purchasing from a retail electricity supplier, the customer's trouble will be reduced, but the cost will increase due to the handling charge, unless the customer becomes the retail electricity supplier himself/herself.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an example of a procedure for selecting a power supplier.

The acquisition unit 102 acquires power information indicating the power consumption per unit time and the contracted power of each office 200 from the smart meter 210, the power management server, or the like (S100). The acquisition unit 102 acquires the load factor of each office 200 based on the power information of each office 200 (S102).

The selection unit 104 determines whether or not the load factor of each office 200 is equal to or less than the first threshold (S104). When the load factor of each office 200 is equal to or less than the first threshold, the selection unit 104 selects the customer himself/herself who has obtained the license of the retail electricity supplier as the power supplier (S106). The output unit 106 outputs to the display terminal 500 the selection result indicating the customer himself/herself who acquired the license of the electricity retailer as the power supplier (S120).

If there is an office with a load factor higher than the first threshold in the place of business 200, the acquisition unit 102 obtains the predicted load factor when the photovoltaic power generation equipment is installed in the office with a load factor higher than the first threshold. Acquire (S108).

Next, the selection unit 104 determines whether or not the load factor or predicted load factor of each office 200 is equal to or less than the first threshold (S110). If the load factor or the predicted load factor of each office 200 is equal to or less than the first threshold, the selection unit 104 selects the licensed customer of the electricity retailer as the power supplier. Furthermore, the selection unit 104 decides to recommend the installation of the photovoltaic power generation equipment to the office where the predicted load factor is equal to or less than the first threshold. The output unit 106 selects the customer who has obtained the license of the retail electricity supplier as the power supplier and recommends installation of the photovoltaic power generation equipment at the office where the predicted load factor is equal to or lower than the first threshold. The result is output to the display terminal 500 (S120).

When there is an office 200 whose load factor or predicted load factor is greater than the first threshold among the offices 200, the selection unit 104 determines that the load factor of each office 200 is greater than the first threshold and It is determined whether or not it is smaller than the threshold (S114). When the load factor of each business office 200 is greater than the first threshold and less than the second threshold, the selection unit 104 selects a retail electricity supplier other than the former general electricity supplier, that is, a new electricity supplier, as an electricity supplier. (S116). The output unit 106 outputs to the display terminal 500 the output result indicating the retail electricity supplier other than the former general electricity supplier as the electricity supplier (S120).

If the load factor of each office 200 is equal to or higher than the second threshold, the selection unit 104 selects a retail electric power company equivalent to the former general electric power company, that is, a major power company, as an electric power supplier (S118). The output unit 106 outputs to the display terminal 500 the output result indicating the retail electricity supplier corresponding to the former general electricity supplier as the electricity supplier (S120).

According to the above procedure, based on the load factor of each place of business 200, it is possible to present the optimum electricity retailer including the customer himself/herself as an electricity supplier in consideration of the overall electricity cost. Furthermore, if installation of photovoltaic power generation equipment is effective, the installation of photovoltaic power generation equipment can also be taken into consideration, and an optimal retail electricity supplier, including the customer himself/herself, can be presented. Therefore, efforts to build a decarbonized society can be promoted.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing another example of the procedure for selecting a power supplier.

The acquisition unit 102 acquires power information indicating the power consumption per unit time and the contracted power of each office 200 from the smart meter 210, the power management server, or the like (S200). The acquisition unit 102 acquires the load factor of each office 200 based on the power information of each office 200, and for the office 200 with additionality, the predicted load when the solar power generation equipment is installed. A rate is acquired (S202). For example, by referring to information indicating whether or not each office 200 stored in the power management server satisfies the installation conditions for the photovoltaic power generation equipment, the acquisition unit 102 determines whether the office 200 has additionality. , that is, whether or not the office 200 satisfies the installation conditions for the photovoltaic power generation equipment.

Next, the selection unit 104 determines whether or not there is an office 200 having a load factor or predicted load factor equal to or lower than the first threshold among the offices 200 (S204). If there is a place of business 200 whose load factor or predicted load factor is equal to or lower than the first threshold, the selection unit 104 selects the licensed customer of the electricity retailer as the power supplier for that place of business 200 . Furthermore, the selection unit 104 determines to recommend installation of the photovoltaic power generation equipment to the office 200 whose predicted load factor is equal to or less than the first threshold (S206).

Further, the selection unit 104 determines whether or not there is an office 200 having a load factor larger than the first threshold and smaller than the second threshold among the offices 200 (S208). If there is an office 200 whose load factor is larger than the first threshold and smaller than the second threshold, the selection unit 104 selects a retail electricity supplier other than the former general electricity supplier as an electricity supplier for the office 200. is selected (S210). In addition, the selection unit 104 selects the retail electricity supplier corresponding to the former general electricity supplier as the power supplier for the office 200 whose load factor is equal to or higher than the second threshold among the offices 200 (S212). .

The output unit 106 installs photovoltaic power generation equipment in power suppliers of each office 200 based on the load factor or the predicted load factor of each office 200 and in the office 200 whose predicted load factor is equal to or lower than the first threshold. is output toward the display terminal 500 (S214).

According to the above procedure, based on the load factor of each office 200, the optimum retail electricity supplier including the customer himself/herself is selected as the electricity supplier of each office 200 in consideration of the overall electricity cost. Every 200 locations can be presented. Furthermore, when the installation of solar power generation equipment is effective, the installation of the solar power generation equipment can also be taken into consideration, and the optimum retail electricity supplier including the customer himself/herself can be presented for each office 200 . Therefore, efforts toward building a decarbonized society can be promoted for each business establishment 200.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example computer 1200 in which aspects of the invention may be implemented in whole or in part. Programs installed on computer 1200 may cause computer 1200 to act as one or more "parts" of or operations associated with apparatus according to embodiments of the present invention. Alternatively, the program may cause computer 1200 to perform the operation or the one or more "parts." The program may cause the computer 1200 to perform a process or steps of the process according to embodiments of the invention. Such programs may be executed by CPU 1212 to cause computer 1200 to perform specific operations associated with some or all of the blocks in the flowcharts and block diagrams described herein.

Computer 1200 according to this embodiment includes CPU 1212 and RAM 1214 , which are interconnected by host controller 1210 . Computer 1200 also includes a communication interface 1222 and an input/output unit, which are connected to host controller 1210 via input/output controller 1220 . Computer 1200 also includes ROM 1230 . The CPU 1212 operates according to programs stored in the ROM 1230 and RAM 1214, thereby controlling each unit.

Communication interface 1222 communicates with other electronic devices over a network. A hard disk drive may store programs and data used by CPU 1212 in computer 1200 . ROM 1230 stores therein programs that are dependent on the hardware of computer 1200, such as a boot program that is executed by computer 1200 upon activation. The program is provided via a computer-readable recording medium such as CR-ROM, USB memory or IC card or network. The program is installed in RAM 1214 or ROM 1230 , which are also examples of computer-readable recording media, and executed by CPU 1212 . The information processing described within these programs is read by computer 1200 to provide coordination between the programs and the various types of hardware resources described above. An apparatus or method may be configured by implementing information operations or processing according to the use of computer 1200 .

For example, when communication is performed between the computer 1200 and an external device, the CPU 1212 executes a communication program loaded into the RAM 1214 and sends communication processing to the communication interface 1222 based on the processing described in the communication program. you can command. The communication interface 1222, under the control of the CPU 1212, reads the transmission data stored in the transmission buffer area provided in the RAM 1214 or a recording medium such as a USB memory, transmits the read transmission data to the network, or Received data received from a network is written in a receive buffer area or the like provided on a recording medium.

The CPU 1212 also causes the RAM 1214 to read all or a necessary portion of a file or database stored in an external storage medium such as a USB memory, and performs various types of processing on the data on the RAM 1214. good. CPU 1212 may then write back the processed data to an external recording medium.

Various types of information, such as various types of programs, data, tables, and databases, may be stored on recording media and subjected to information processing. CPU 1212 performs various types of operations on data read from RAM 1214, information processing, conditional decisions, conditional branching, unconditional branching, and information retrieval, which are described throughout this disclosure and are specified by instruction sequences of programs. Various types of processing may be performed, including /replace, etc., and the results written back to RAM 1214 . In addition, the CPU 1212 may search for information in a file in a recording medium, a database, or the like. For example, if a plurality of entries each having an attribute value of a first attribute associated with an attribute value of a second attribute are stored in the recording medium, the CPU 1212 determines that the attribute value of the first attribute is specified. search the plurality of entries for an entry that matches the condition, read the attribute value of the second attribute stored in the entry, and thereby associate it with the first attribute that satisfies the predetermined condition. an attribute value of the second attribute obtained.

The programs or software modules described above may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium on or near computer 1200 . Also, a recording medium such as a hard disk or RAM provided in a server system connected to a dedicated communication network or the Internet can be used as a computer-readable storage medium, whereby the program can be transferred to the computer 1200 via the network. offer.

A computer-readable medium may include any tangible device capable of storing instructions for execution by a suitable device. As a result, a computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon provides an article of manufacture that includes instructions that can be executed to create means for performing the operations specified in the flowchart or block diagram. Examples of computer-readable media may include electronic storage media, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, electromagnetic storage media, semiconductor storage media, and the like. More specific examples of computer readable media include floppy disks, diskettes, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM or flash memory), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Compact Disc Read Only Memory (CD-ROM), Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), Blu-ray (RTM) Disc, Memory Stick, Integration Circuit cards and the like may be included.

The computer readable instructions may comprise either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages. Source code or object code includes conventional procedural programming languages. Traditional procedural programming languages include assembler instructions, Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state setting data, or Smalltalk, JAVA, C++. etc., and the "C" programming language or similar programming languages. Computer readable instructions may be transferred to a processor or programmable circuitry of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, either locally or over a wide area network (WAN), such as a local area network (LAN), the Internet, or the like. ) may be provided via A processor or programmable circuit may execute computer readable instructions to produce means for performing the operations specified in the flowcharts or block diagrams. Examples of processors include computer processors, processing units, microprocessors, digital signal processors, controllers, microcontrollers, and the like.

Although the present invention has been described above using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements can be made to the above embodiments. It is clear from the description of the scope of claims that forms with such modifications or improvements can also be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

The execution order of each process such as actions, procedures, steps, and stages in the devices, systems, programs, and methods shown in the claims, the specification, and the drawings is particularly "before", "before etc., and it should be noted that they can be implemented in any order unless the output of the previous process is used in the subsequent process. Regarding the operation flow in the claims, the specification, and the drawings, even if the description is made using "first," "next," etc. for the sake of convenience, it means that it is essential to carry out in this order. not a thing

10 power supplier selection system 20 smart meter 50 network 100 information processing device 102 acquisition unit 104 selection unit 106 output unit 200 office 210 smart meter 300 reverse auction system 500 display terminal 1200 computer 1210 host controller 1212 CPU
1214 RAM
1220 input/output controller 1222 communication interface 1230 ROM

Claims (13)

an acquisition unit that acquires a load factor that indicates the ratio of the average power to the maximum power in a predetermined period of the customer;
Based on the load factor, the electric power suppliers to be presented to the customer are a retail electric utility equivalent to the former general electric utility, a retail electric utility other than the former general electric utility, and a retail electric utility. a selection unit for selecting one of the licensed customers themselves;
and an output unit configured to output a result of selection by the selection unit. The selection unit
when the load factor is equal to or less than the first threshold, selecting the customer himself/herself who has obtained a retail electricity supplier license as the power supplier;
if the load factor is greater than the first threshold and less than the second threshold, selecting a retail electricity supplier other than the former general electricity supplier as the electricity supplier;
2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when said load factor is equal to or greater than said second threshold, a retail electricity supplier corresponding to a former general electricity supplier is selected as said electricity supplier. The acquisition unit acquires a predicted load factor indicating a load factor that offsets the power supplied from the renewable energy power generation equipment when the customer introduces the renewable energy power generation equipment,
The selection unit
3. Even if the load factor is equal to or higher than the second threshold, if the predicted load factor is equal to or lower than the first threshold, the customer himself/herself who has obtained a retail electricity supplier license is selected as the power supplier. The information processing device according to . The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said output unit outputs said selection result including a message recommending introduction of renewable energy power generation equipment when said predicted load factor is smaller than said first threshold. The acquisition unit acquires a load factor for each power supply point of the customer, and for supply points with a load factor equal to or higher than the second threshold, when renewable energy power generation equipment is introduced at the supply point, the Acquire the predicted load factor that indicates the load factor that offsets the power supplied from the renewable energy power generation facility,
4. When the load factor or the predicted load factor is equal to or lower than the first threshold value at all supply points, the selection unit selects the customer himself/herself who has acquired a retail electricity supplier license as the power supplier. The information processing device according to . The acquisition unit indicates, for each power supply point of the customer, a load factor and a load factor obtained by offsetting the power supplied from the renewable energy power generation facility when the renewable energy power generation facility is introduced at the supply point. Get the predicted load factor,
4. The information processing according to claim 3, wherein said selection unit selects a customer himself/herself who has acquired a license of a retail electricity supplier as said power supplier of a supply point whose load factor or predicted load factor is equal to or less than said first threshold. Device. The acquisition unit acquires the load factor for each power supply point of the customer, and further offsets the power supplied from the renewable energy power generation facility for the supply point where the renewable energy power generation facility can be introduced. Get the predicted load factor that indicates the load factor,
4. The information processing according to claim 3, wherein said selection unit selects a customer himself/herself who has acquired a license of a retail electricity supplier as said power supplier of a supply point whose load factor or predicted load factor is equal to or less than said first threshold. Device.
8. Any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the output unit outputs the selection result including a message recommending introduction of renewable energy power generation equipment for a supply point where the predicted load factor is smaller than the first threshold. The information processing device described. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 8, wherein said renewable energy power generation facility is a solar power generation facility. When the load factor is greater than the first threshold value and less than the second threshold value, the acquisition unit presents the lowest electricity rate in a reverse auction among a plurality of retail electricity utilities other than the former general electricity utility. obtain information on retail electricity suppliers that have
10. The selection unit according to any one of claims 2 to 9, wherein, when the load factor is greater than the first threshold and less than the second threshold, the electricity retailer indicated in the information is selected as the electricity supplier. The information processing device according to claim 1. If the customer is a company aiming to procure all the energy consumed in business activities from renewable energy, the selection unit selects power to be procured with tracking information regardless of the type of the power supplier. 11. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, which selects only renewable energy of . obtaining a load factor indicating the ratio of the customer's average power to maximum power over a predetermined period of time;
Based on the load factor, the electric power suppliers to be presented to the customer are a retail electric utility equivalent to the former general electric utility, a retail electric utility other than the former general electric utility, and a retail electric utility. selecting any one of the licensed customers themselves;
and outputting a selection result in the selecting step. obtaining a load factor indicating the ratio of the customer's average power to maximum power over a predetermined period of time;
Based on the load factor, the electric power suppliers to be presented to the customer are a retail electric utility equivalent to the former general electric utility, a retail electric utility other than the former general electric utility, and a retail electric utility. selecting any one of the licensed customers themselves;
A program for causing a computer to execute a step of outputting a selection result in the step of selecting.

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