Abstract : This paper proposes a power e-commerce structure design based on an electricity energy metering and billing system, and analyzes its feasibility. Keywords: Electricity energy metering and billing system; e-commerce; power marketing. With the deepening of power system reform and the gradual commercialization and marketization of power grid management, the electricity energy at the power exchange point has begun to be used as the main basis for billing and assessment between power grid companies and provincial companies, provincial companies and municipal companies, and municipal companies and county (district) companies. The relationship between power companies and power customers has also shifted from a regulatory relationship to a service relationship. These new changes have placed higher demands on the service level of power companies. At the same time, many regions in China have built information systems such as electricity energy metering and billing systems and power marketing management systems to improve the automation level of enterprise management and operational efficiency, control and reduce power grid line losses, and improve production efficiency and benefits. However, these systems often operate independently and have the following shortcomings: ① They fail to consider the corporatization of power companies and the new characteristics of the power market, still adhering to traditional management models in their design; ② They fail to adequately address system scalability, making it difficult to organically integrate the numerous existing power marketing information resources within power companies; ③ They lack an overall vision for the power market; ④ They lack an e-marketing concept utilizing new network technologies. Based on these reasons, it is essential to establish a power e-commerce system that is grounded in the context of a large-scale power market, utilizes Internet/Intranet technology, and develops a system based on electricity metering and billing to directly serve a broad range of power customers. 1. Analysis and Design: Electricity inherently possesses the characteristics of being non-storable and requiring immediate delivery; simultaneously, electricity sales involve customers paying after use, leading to difficulties in electricity bill collection. However, with the development of the large electricity market and computer network technology, especially Internet/Intranet technology, the traditional electricity marketing model is undergoing profound changes. The integration of electricity marketing and e-commerce enables electricity customers to conduct real-time electricity inquiries, make payments instantly, and apply for installation and repairs online via the internet; power companies can also interact with customers through the internet, providing personalized services to major clients and achieving "instant settlement" for electricity transactions. The key to electricity commodity transactions lies in the fairness, convenience, and timely metering and settlement of electricity sales. Since current electricity marketing management systems are developed within the context of traditional marketing systems, focusing on purely transactional business management within enterprises, they do not reflect the essence of electricity commodity transactions. Therefore, an e-commerce framework based on electricity energy metering and billing is more in line with the essence of electricity commodity transactions and is more suitable. This is the reason for proposing to build an e-commerce system based on an electricity energy metering and billing system. Currently, the commonly used electricity metering and billing systems are client/server (C/S) architecture systems oriented towards internal billing and settlement. In the C/S architecture, the front end is the client, used to display electricity collection status, regional electricity calculation results, electricity billing results, etc., and can analyze the results; the back end is the server group, used for data storage, calculation, and control of data access. The server has a database, and the data is automatically collected remotely from various collection points by the collection workstations. All operations are completed within a business intranet, and the data can only be used by a small number of relevant internal personnel covered by the business intranet, resulting in low data utilization efficiency. With the development of Internet/Intranet and Web technologies, the original electricity metering and billing system can be extended to construct a customer-interactive electricity e-commerce system based on a browser/server (B/S) architecture. A system based on a B/S architecture generally consists of a three-tier structure: a browser workstation, a Web server, and a data server. The system utilizes existing Internet/Intranet technologies, centralizing the application processing on the server side, and uses a unified browser user interface. No client program needs to be installed, and any authorized Internet user can obtain the fastest personal online interactive service. However, the data processing efficiency of the B/S system is relatively inferior to that of the C/S system. But with the continuous development of B/S technology and middleware technology, the data processing efficiency problem will be solved relatively quickly. A power e-commerce system based on the electricity metering and billing system, utilizing Internet/Intranet technology, centers on the B/S model and uses the C/S model electricity metering and billing system as data service support. This ensures both data processing efficiency and the coverage of power e-commerce, and can be implemented using existing mature technologies. The system structure can be roughly divided into three layers: the client layer, the web interaction layer, and the data layer. 2. Data Layer The data layer implements the functions of collecting, processing, storing, and managing raw data. The core of the data layer is the electricity metering and billing system, while also integrating data from other related systems. Large database software such as Sybase and Oracle can be used, or a more general-purpose medium-sized database software such as MS SQL Server can be selected. Utilizing the strong data processing and management characteristics of the metering system's C/S architecture, the functions of data collection, processing, storage, and management are realized. 2.1 Data Collection Function Data collection includes the acquisition of customer electricity meter data, gateway electricity meter data, customer information data, electricity billing data, business expansion application data, and fault repair data. Among these, customers are most concerned with electricity transaction data, i.e., the metering and billing data. Metering data is obtained directly through remote meter reading, meter reading devices, etc., while other relevant data can be obtained from other business systems through the internal network. All data together constitute the electricity e-commerce data entity. Meter reading types are divided into three categories: gateway customers, large customers, and community individual customers. The meter reading workstations of the metering and billing system collect electricity meter readings in real time under a unified clock, allowing users to understand their electricity transaction status immediately. Simultaneously, due to the large amount of historical data accumulated in the system, the power company can analyze customer historical data and combine it with relevant electricity policies to provide customers with personalized electricity indicators, and can also promptly detect abnormal electricity consumption by customers to prevent electricity theft. 2.2 Data Processing Functions Data processing includes: data preprocessing, electricity and fee settlement auditing, regional electricity and fee settlement auditing, online electricity fee collection, and abnormal electricity consumption analysis. These functions can be completed in the application server. Data preprocessing involves storing and auditing the collected data to ensure the accuracy, timeliness, and impartiality of the original data. The application server also analyzes and calculates the original data in the data server to generate various electricity commodity transaction settlement information, providing data support for customer inquiries and online electricity fee payments. Furthermore, the application server can perform real-time calculations according to a specific work plan, ensuring data timeliness and improving system calculation efficiency and response speed. 2.3 Data Storage Functions Data storage is crucial for data security, so the configured database must include: a raw database, an application database, and a backup database. The raw database (set to read-only and not modifiable) includes: automatically recorded raw electricity data, status data, system parameter configuration data, system maintenance data, and operation log data. The application database includes time-stamped electricity data generated according to statistical needs, statistical data, manually entered data, various assessment and settlement data, and various types of interface files with other systems. To ensure the security, reliability, and integrity of system data, the system generally provides two backup methods: scheduled data backup and the ability to perform arbitrary backup and recovery. 2.4 Data Management Functions Since the data from various customers will be extremely complex, the data layer should have a reasonable underlying data organization and a complete data management mechanism. It should be able to classify customer requests, extract the required data as quickly as possible, and ensure data confidentiality. 3 Web Interaction Layer The Web interaction layer uses a web server to provide customers with services such as web page interaction, file transfer, online chat, and information publishing. The power e-commerce system provides real-time interactive services to customers at this layer via the Internet/Intranet. It can also interact with the banking e-commerce system at this layer to complete online electricity bill payments. Power customers submit service requests to the system through forms, documents, etc. The Web interaction layer submits these requests to the data layer and obtains the corresponding data from the data layer. The Web interaction layer should avoid customers spending most of their time and energy on passive querying; it should provide proactive services at the interaction layer. 4. Structural Design Features Based on the electricity metering and billing system, and leveraging the vast coverage of the Internet, the system meets the needs of electricity e-commerce, enabling online electricity transactions and payments, thus changing the traditional electricity marketing model. The structural design has the following features: 1) It is a structural reorganization and expansion of mature technologies and systems, with low implementation difficulty and significant investment savings and reduced design risks. 2) It is built upon the needs of electricity market development, using online electricity transactions as a link, embodying the essence of electricity e-commerce. 3) It not only provides services to customers but also forms a network for electricity business, providing a foundation for the realization of digital electricity. 4) By obtaining customer electricity consumption information in a timely manner, power companies can shift from passively monitoring for electricity theft to proactive dynamic monitoring, improving monitoring efficiency and success rate. 5) The system transmits data and conducts electronic transactions via the Internet; therefore, data confidentiality and security are paramount. The design employs firewalls and multi-layered database configurations to greatly improve network and data security. 6) The design allows various electricity customers to conduct online electricity transactions and obtain services anytime, anywhere via the Internet, providing convenience for customers. 7) Customers only need to install browser software, resulting in low client-side learning and training costs. 5. Conclusion The establishment of an electricity e-commerce system based on the electricity metering and billing system will change the traditional electricity marketing model and profoundly transform the electricity sales model. Many familiar positions, such as meter readers and accountants, will disappear, replaced by process reengineering. This will greatly improve the work efficiency of electricity sales companies, while also reducing electricity transaction costs, ultimately enabling power companies to achieve a "customer-centric" approach and move towards the market. Of course, the above is only a structural framework; many detailed technical issues can be further discussed and researched.