Big-Data Mechanisms and Energy-Policy Design

A confluence of technical, economic and political forces are revolutionizing the energy sector. Policy-makers, who decide on incentives and penalties for possible courses of actions, play a critical role in determining which outcomes arise. However, designing appropriate energy policies is a complex and challenging task. Our vision is to provide tools and methodologies for policy makers so that they can leverage the power of big data to make evidence-based decisions. In this paper we present an approach we call big-data mechanism design which combines a mechanism design framework with stakeholder surveys and data to allow policy-makers to gauge the costs and benefits of potential policy decisions. We illustrate the effectiveness of this approach in a concrete application domain: the peaksaver PLUS program in Ontario, Canada.

Authors

• Ankit Pat
• Kate Larson University of Waterloo
• Srinivasen Keshav

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