US 11,861,687 B1
Computer architecture and process for processing a withdrawal request or a switch request for auctioning of basic generation services
Chantale Lacasse, New York, NY (US); Frederick W. Lark, Bernardsville, NJ (US); Eugene Meehan, Washington, DC (US); Anthony R. Robinson, Hillsborough, NJ (US); David Salant, Sausalito, CA (US); Colin J. Loxley, Laurence Harbor, NJ (US); Gerald W. Schirra, Randolph, NJ (US); and Robert Taylor, Chester Borough, NJ (US)
Assigned to Public Service Electric & Gas Company, Newark, NJ (US); Atlantic City Electric Company, Wilmington, DE (US); Jersey Central Power & Light Company, Akron, OH (US); and Rockland Electric Company, Pearl River, NY (US)
Filed by PUBLIC SERVICE ELECTRIC & GAS COMPANY, Newark, NJ (US); ATLANTIC CITY ELECTRIC COMPANY, Wilmington, DE (US); JERSEY CENTRAL POWER & LIGHT COMPANY, Akron, OH (US); and ROCKLAND ELECTRIC COMPANY, New York, NY (US)
Filed on Apr. 9, 2018, as Appl. No. 15/948,664.
Application 12/180,892 is a division of application No. 10/680,407, filed on Oct. 8, 2003, granted, now 7,409,360, issued on Aug. 5, 2008.
Application 15/948,664 is a continuation of application No. 13/616,541, filed on Sep. 14, 2012, granted, now 9,940,666.
Application 13/616,541 is a continuation of application No. 12/180,892, filed on Jul. 28, 2008, granted, now 8,285,601, issued on Oct. 9, 2012.
Claims priority of provisional application 60/416,570, filed on Oct. 8, 2002.
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G06Q 30/06 (2023.01); G06Q 30/08 (2012.01)
CPC G06Q 30/08 (2013.01) 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of receiving a withdrawal request or a switch request in a computer-based, simultaneous, multiple round, descending clock auction, the method including the sequential, non-sequential, and sequence-independent steps of:
(A) receiving, via secure technology and a web server, electronic bids from qualified bidders indicating at least one desired tranche of at least one of a plurality of products at a specified starting price for each of the at least one of the plurality of products during a first round;
(B) calculating, via an application server, a second round price for each of the at least one of the plurality of products for a second round based on the specified starting price and a number of tranches bid for each of the at least one of the plurality of products during the first round;
(C) sending, via application software, a first round result of the first round to the qualified bidders, the first round result including the second round price for each of the at least one of the plurality of products and a notice of the number of tranches bid during the first round for each of the at least one of the plurality of products and an amount of excess supply offered during the first round for each of the plurality of products, wherein the application server is in data communication with the web server and the application server and the web server are maintained separately from an auction database to maintain the physical security of the servers and database and provide server and network security for the application software being executed on the application server;
(D) receiving, via the web server, bids for at least one tranche of the at least one of the plurality of products from the qualified bidders during the second round, wherein the second round price is lower than the first round price for any of the at least one of the plurality of products that received the number of tranches bid greater than the tranche target for that product during the first round of bidding, wherein the second round price is equal to the first round price for any of the at least one of the plurality of products that received the number of tranches bid equal to or less than the tranche target for that product during the first round of bidding;
(E) repeating steps (B)-(D) for at least one subsequent round following the second round;
(F) during the second round or a subsequent round, receiving, via the web server, at least one of a withdrawal request, a switch request, and an ending price for each of the plurality of products;
(G) processing the bids for at least one tranche of the at least one of the plurality of products from the qualified bidders during the second round and at least partially rejecting for a refused number of tranches;
(H) retaining at least one of the refused number of tranches for the at least one of the plurality of products on which the refused number of tranches was bid and retaining the withdrawn tranches when the number of tranches bid during a previous round for each of the at least one of the plurality of products is greater than the tranche target for that product and when the bid during a current round for that product is less than the tranche target for that product;
(I) determining, via the application software, when the number of tranches bid during a round are equal to or less than the tranche target for each of the at least one of the plurality of products; and
(J) when the number of tranches bid for the round are equal to or less than a certain threshold for each of the at least one of the plurality of products such that no further bidding can take place under the auction rules, ending, via the application software, the auction after the round and awarding winning bidders an ending price for each of the at least one of the plurality of products won by the winning bidders, wherein the ending price comprising one of a final price from a final round of bidding and a named exit price for each of the at least one of the plurality of products won by the winning bidders, wherein the winning bidders are determined based on the named exit price, and where bidders submitted the same named exit price, the bidders that submitted their bids earlier, based on the time-stamps of the bids, are the first to be allocated tranches, and
(K) in the event a communication failure occurs such that the at least one electronic bids cannot be submitted for the auction, implementing at least one communication failure procedure, which enables the at least one bidders to be verified by receiving the confidential identification information from the at least one bidder, receiving at least one manual bid from the at least one bidder via at least one of a telephone, facsimile, band delivery and mail, and accepting the at least one manual bid responsive to the verification of the confidential information by the computer system, thereby ensuring that the auction does not have to be postponed or canceled due to the communication failure of the at least one electronic bid, and
wherein a plurality of client browsers, the application server, the web server, the application software, and an auction database provide a multi-tier architecture and field-level database access control in combination with a constituent hierarchy, wherein the electronic bids are communicated over a plurality of tiers of the multi-tier architecture using secure technology, wherein each of the plurality of client browser interactively communicates with a web-based auction software, and wherein the validity of the electronic bids are based on a maximum number of allowable tranches that the at least one bidder can bid on for each round, each EDC, the auction, or pursuant to state and local rules.