ABSTRACT
It was not Spiderman’s Uncle Ben who was the first to note that “with great power comes great responsibility,”2 but Voltaire. Nonetheless, when it comes to the implications of big data collection and analytics, this rumination is chillingly relevant. There are a few things a utility doesn’t want to face: public embarrassment, suspicious consumers, and legal burdens. These are not casual concerns. It is highly likely that many organizations that use personally identifiable information (PII) for their business operations will have to contend with reputational damage as a result of their use or handling of big data.3 As the utility moves forward with its big data plans, dangerous dilemmas are emerging. Now is the time for utility leaders to explore the implications of using big data for decision-making, especially as the industry lurches from a highly regulated model of universal access to one of optimization, powered by advanced analytics.
