Advanced information systems present a key enabling technology for innovative customer-oriented services by the utility industry. Real-time and two-way electronic information exchange with the customer over the power grid and other media is now possible. This provides the baseline for a host of new customer services, provided proper advantage is taken of a variety of recent advances in information technology. In this context, we discuss (a) how to engineer knowledge into systems and services, giving rise to smart software and intelligent systems, and (b) how to exploit this practically for novel ways to achieve distributed load management, dealing with thousands of devices simultaneously. A special characteristic of our concept is that the two-way information exchange for load-balancing purposes is based on market mechanisms similar to an auction. This auction is carried out by small smart software programs in devices (such as radiators) that represent and assist the customer. Field experiments with this intelligent and distributed new approach to power load management are currently performed.

I artikeln visar vi hur distribuerad "intelligent" mjukvara som bevakar kundens intressen i energisystem genom att "förhandla" med annan liknande mjukvara, som representerar andra kunder leder till optimal laststyrning. Artikeln är relativt lättläst också för personer utan teknisk bakgrund.