ISYE-6501 Week #13 Homework
Question 18.1
Describe analytics models and data that could be used to make good recommendations to the power company.
Here are some questions to consider:
•The bottom-line question is which shutoffs should be done each month, given the capacity constraints. One
consideration is that some of the capacity – the workers’ time – is taken up by travel, so maybe the shutoffs can be
scheduled in a way that increases the number of them that can be done.
•Not every shutoff is equal. Some shutoffs shouldn’t be done at all, because if the power is left on, those people are
likely to pay the bill eventually. How can you identify which shutoffs should or shouldn’t be done? And among the
ones to shut off, how should they be prioritized?
Think about the problem and your approach. Then talk about it with other learners, and share and combine your
ideas. And then, put your approaches up on the discussion forum, and give feedback and suggestions to each other.
You can use the {given, use, to} format to guide the discussions: Given {data}, use {model} to {result}.
m
Have fun! Taking a real problem, and thinking through the modeling and data process to build a good solution
er as
framework, is my favorite part of analytics.
co
eH w
Response:
o.
From the problem description point #2, it seems, that there is a large portion of consumers that should
rs e
NOT be considered for shutoffs as they will eventually pay anyway or, will be eligible for funding by
ou urc
welfare. Like any profit-generating company, the power company would like to minimize the total cost
of shutoffs. Hence, it may be considered as an optimization problem.
o
The cost components of the shutoff:
aC s
1. Less/Non receipt of monthly payments – there will be revenue loss on account of power shutoff
vi y re
as those houses will not be using electricity after shutoff. The actual impact may have some
seasonality factor as many areas (such as mine) will consume more power in summer months
(due to air conditioning running on electricity).
ed d
2. Operational costs – a technical team needs to be hired that will also incur travel and equipment
ar stu
costs
3. Reputation – though not easily measurable in $ terms, the power company will likely suffer
some loss of reputation if they start shutting off customers
4. Legal cost – some customers might bring in potentially damaging lawsuits (say, for example,
is
someone on life support dies due to electricity being cut off for a long time)
Th
Apart from this, this is also a scheduling problem as once we decide which households to shutoff, we
need to schedule them in such a way that minimizes operational cost.
sh
Problem #1 – identify customers that are candidates for shutoff (did not pay willingly)
Problem #2 – optimize shutoff operations resource cost (lost revenue, travel and
resource cost etc.)
Page 1|4
This study source was downloaded by 100000827039679 from CourseHero.com on 07-14-2021 10:38:38 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/40909865/Week-13-Answerpdf/
Question 18.1
Describe analytics models and data that could be used to make good recommendations to the power company.
Here are some questions to consider:
•The bottom-line question is which shutoffs should be done each month, given the capacity constraints. One
consideration is that some of the capacity – the workers’ time – is taken up by travel, so maybe the shutoffs can be
scheduled in a way that increases the number of them that can be done.
•Not every shutoff is equal. Some shutoffs shouldn’t be done at all, because if the power is left on, those people are
likely to pay the bill eventually. How can you identify which shutoffs should or shouldn’t be done? And among the
ones to shut off, how should they be prioritized?
Think about the problem and your approach. Then talk about it with other learners, and share and combine your
ideas. And then, put your approaches up on the discussion forum, and give feedback and suggestions to each other.
You can use the {given, use, to} format to guide the discussions: Given {data}, use {model} to {result}.
m
Have fun! Taking a real problem, and thinking through the modeling and data process to build a good solution
er as
framework, is my favorite part of analytics.
co
eH w
Response:
o.
From the problem description point #2, it seems, that there is a large portion of consumers that should
rs e
NOT be considered for shutoffs as they will eventually pay anyway or, will be eligible for funding by
ou urc
welfare. Like any profit-generating company, the power company would like to minimize the total cost
of shutoffs. Hence, it may be considered as an optimization problem.
o
The cost components of the shutoff:
aC s
1. Less/Non receipt of monthly payments – there will be revenue loss on account of power shutoff
vi y re
as those houses will not be using electricity after shutoff. The actual impact may have some
seasonality factor as many areas (such as mine) will consume more power in summer months
(due to air conditioning running on electricity).
ed d
2. Operational costs – a technical team needs to be hired that will also incur travel and equipment
ar stu
costs
3. Reputation – though not easily measurable in $ terms, the power company will likely suffer
some loss of reputation if they start shutting off customers
4. Legal cost – some customers might bring in potentially damaging lawsuits (say, for example,
is
someone on life support dies due to electricity being cut off for a long time)
Th
Apart from this, this is also a scheduling problem as once we decide which households to shutoff, we
need to schedule them in such a way that minimizes operational cost.
sh
Problem #1 – identify customers that are candidates for shutoff (did not pay willingly)
Problem #2 – optimize shutoff operations resource cost (lost revenue, travel and
resource cost etc.)
Page 1|4
This study source was downloaded by 100000827039679 from CourseHero.com on 07-14-2021 10:38:38 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/40909865/Week-13-Answerpdf/
