Safety and security are critical to the successful delivery of services to our member systems and their consumer-members. Living a culture of safety each day across the system allows CIPCO to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective power to all our Member-owners. CIPCO’s dedication to ongoing and consistent training positively impacts this bottom line. From CPR to pole-top rescue, or specialized training for working on energized conductors, CIPCO’s commitment rings true because of the dedication of all our employees.
Additionally, CIPCO cares deeply about preserving our environment for future generations and those principles are present in the board room where our elected directors make long-term decisions to balance the affordability and reliability of electricity with more sustainable sources of generation.
Environmental
CIPCO takes the role of environmental stewardship very seriously. For decades, we have been making investments in new technology for our electric generation and transmission systems to reduce the environmental impact.
We have a long history of environmental compliance as well as an internal audit program that has confirmed our accountability and responsibility in the environmental arena. CIPCO maintains and abides by the permit requirements for both air emissions and water resources that we use.
Work continues at our Summit Lake Generating Station in Creston on a repowering project to add 55 MW of efficient natural gas-fired reciprocating engines (pictured below) while retiring the old steam turbines. As progress continues, the new engines are expected to be in place and operational in late 2020.
Safety
The safety and health of CIPCO employees is of paramount importance. All employees participate in monthly safety meetings and look for opportunities that will make the workplace safer. We take great pride in the fact that injuries are few and if injuries occur, they are thoroughly investigated and used as a learning opportunity for all.
CIPCO also carefully examines close call/near miss incidents and utilizes an incident/injury prevention program called Stop-Think-Observe-Proceed (STOP). The STOP initiative is designed to encourage employees to share examples of incidents when they have identified a hazard, the danger it posed, and what was done to eliminate it.
Because it’s important that we keep informed on safety requirements and trends in our industry, CIPCO is an active member of:
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National Safety Council https://www.nsc.org/
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Iowa-Illinois Safety Council https://www.iisc.org/
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National Fire Protection Association https://www.nfpa.org/
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Iowa Electric Utility Safety and Training Association
We conduct inspections at our generation facilities and conduct field observations of transmission operations work practices. Our efforts are designed to maintain a safe work environment for our employees. The standard of performance is high, but CIPCO has repeatedly proven that we are up to the task.
If you have any questions regarding our safety programs, please contact Rex Butler, Manager of Environmental & Safety at (515) 362-7651.
