Automatic classification of electrical complaints using decision trees and random forest: an applied study at CNEL EP
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Abstract
This study presents an automated classification system to prioritize electrical service complaints at CNEL EP. A total of 143,113 real records were processed through data cleaning, missing-value imputation, and the engineering of predictive variables reflecting complaint urgency and recurrence. Based on these criteria, the target variable “Priority” was defined to distinguish high-priority from normal complaints. Supervised learning models, specifically Decision Tree and Random Forest, were then trained using one-hot encoding and cross-validation. Random Forest delivered the best performance, achieving 91% accuracy and an AUC-ROC of 0.89. These results indicate that the proposed system can significantly improve technical resource allocation and reduce response times for electrical complaints. Moreover, the study demonstrates the feasibility of integrating machine-learning techniques into the operational management of electric distribution companies, enabling future enhancements and real-time deployment.
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