SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CREATING A COST-EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT RETAIL ELECTRIC POWER EXCHANGE/ENERGY SERVICE PROVIDER LOAD OPTIMIZATION EXCHANGE AND NETWORK THEREFOR

摘要

An electric power exchange network (see Fig. 2) includes a series of computerized exchange nodes (24a, 24d) that provide communications between suppliers and purchasers or users of electric power. Search engines enable suppliers to obtain information such as load characteristics from users of the network to allow the suppliers to effectively merge or combine its existing loads with those of certain users, whereby a more efficient trading of electric power among members of the exchange network can be achieved.