The present invention provides a coordinating node (1) in an energy usage control system. The coordinating node (1) receives trade-off functions from energy consuming nodes (2). The coordinating node (1) and the energy consuming nodes (2) collectively form a domain. A trade-off function from an energy consuming node (2) describes a relationship between a result of energy consumption by the energy consuming node (2) and a degree of satisfaction towards the result. The coordinating node (1) develops policies respectively for the energy consuming nodes (2), based on the received trade-off functions. The policies each contain at least one goal and/or at least one procedure to guide the respective energy consuming node (2) to control its energy usage such that the energy consuming nodes (2) collectively achieve an optimum energy saving for the domain.
