AI at CIPCO: A Measured Approach
CIPCO has taken a measured approach with AI technology, focusing on where these tools add value while protecting the cooperative and its Member-owners.
Artificial intelligence continues to gain attention across many industries, including the utility sector. While AI is often portrayed as a technology that will quickly transform how organizations operate, CIPCO instead has taken a measured approach, focusing on where these tools add value while protecting the cooperative and its Member-owners.
Paul Hofman, Vice President of Information Technology, said his team uses AI as a productivity tool rather than a decision-maker.
“We use AI for simple tasks like editing emails, summarizing information, researching technical issues, and even writing code,” he said, noting it has helped improve efficiency when troubleshooting, even though outputs still require careful review.
From a generation standpoint, Manager of Engineering Sam Honold noted that some power plant operators are beginning to use AI to help monitor facilities, providing early insights into equipment performance and operational conditions.
In Human Resources, AI is being used as a tool to drive creativity and efficiency. Morgan Dredge, director of Human Resources, said her team uses AI to help generate ideas for employee activities and to draft communications, job descriptions, and policy language.
“It’s a great starting point,” she said, “but it does not provide the final product. Everything must be reviewed, verified, and adjusted.”
Dredge emphasized that the sensitive nature of employee data and the need for human judgment overrules AI use. There is also the potential for violating employment laws, data leaks, and oversimplifying complex issues.
“We work with sensitive situations that require compassion, empathy, trust, and meaningful conversations,” she said. “AI is not great with context and situational judgment.”
CIPCO’s use of AI is intentionally centered around Edison AI, the cooperative’s internal, private AI platform. Designed to align with CIPCO’s information security policies and ensure that internal and proprietary data remains protected, Edison AI keeps all data within CIPCO’s servers and private cloud.
“Since we launched at the end of 2024, Edison AI usage has been small, but steadily increasing,” said Senior Business Intelligence & Application Developer Nathan Nelson. “To date, there have been 42 unique chat history owners. That’s a little over a third of CIPCO that has at least had one conversation with Edison.”
Employees are encouraged to submit internal documents to expand Edison’s knowledge base but, like any evolving technology, Edison AI also has limitations.
“Overall, I think most of CIPCO’s peers are either using public AI tools or not interacting with AI in a meaningful way,” Nelson said. “Of the few co-ops that are investing in AI, most are investing in single-purpose machine learning modeling for forecasting. That approach to AI is great, but Edison is designed to support our Information Security goals and provide CIPCO employees with flexible tools.”
Hofman emphasized that protecting sensitive information is one of the primary reasons CIPCO uses Edison AI. “The concern is sharing sensitive information with AI, which is why we have Edison. It keeps the information local,” he said. “We know there are malicious actors using AI to find better ways to infiltrate systems.”
Chad Herrick, CIPCO’s load and planning coordinator, uses Edison as a tool to review language.
“On the periphery of the load forecast, I did use Edison AI to review large load contracts to look for contradictory language and summarize sections so I could make sure the intended meaning was there,” Herrick said.
Looking ahead, CIPCO leaders expect AI to play a gradual, supportive role rather than becoming a central operational tool in the future.
“We are not passively waiting or denouncing AI possibilities,” said Director of Engineering and Operations Terry Fett. “The technology takes time to evaluate and to make sure that we are applying it in the most effective manner.”
Vice President and CFO Michelle Soyer added that AI’s long-term value may be in freeing up staff time, allowing employees to focus more on analysis and strategic thinking.
Dredge emphasized that while AI may support efficiencies, it cannot replace the human element of her work.
For now, staff will continue to monitor developments, test tools where appropriate, and evaluate AI security like any other technology, as CIPCO looks for ways AI can meaningfully support its employees and serve its Member-owners.