Liberty Lake-based utility-tech company Itron Inc. is collaborating with Microsoft Corp. to enhance utility operations with generative artificial intelligence.

Microsoft’s generative AI Copilot technology is being integrated into Itron’s Intelligent Edge Operating System, a global data platform. The tool is intended to enable utilities to use natural language queries to request information previously only available to their data scientists, according to an Itron press release.

Utilities will be able to access data and insights needed to accelerate decision making, increase innovation, and manage repetitive tasks and queries quickly.

The integrated solution will be available globally during the upcoming second quarter of this year.

The AI-powered platform will allow utilities to access advanced analytics for electricity, gas, and water distribution devices, as well as distributed energy resources such as wind, solar, and battery storage, the release states.

With Microsoft’s generative AI, utilities will be able to query the platform to obtain the information they need.

Equipped with natural language queries, the data platform is designed to understand, interpret, and generate questions and answers in a way that feels natural and intuitive.