ROCHELLE — The City of Rochelle has approved an ordinance accepting a proposal from AIDash to provide vegetation management services for the RMU electric system. The AI-based platform uses satellite imagery and data analytics to identify areas that pose the greatest reliability risks, allowing staff to prioritize maintenance, reduce outages, and improve operational efficiency.
Blake Toliver, Superintendent of Electric Operations and Generation, said this company will improve upon their current methods, which is handling the community in sections and visually identifying possible problem trees interfering with power lines. He said that over the summer in a pilot program they identified problem vegetation over 94% of the time.
The five-year contract, funded through the RMU Electric Fund, totals $54,000 per year.