| Focus on USA
Wildfire risk: how utilities can mitigate it
The inspection processes typically used for utility powerline assets are inefficient and inaccurate. AI and living digital twins can be employed to significantly improve asset maintenance and vegetation management, greatly reducing wildfire risk, an escalating threat in the USA
James Conlin Product Manager, Sharper Shape
If not in California, then in Oregon; if not in Louisiana, then in Hawaii. Each year, the US is subject to a fresh wave of devastating wildfires with little respite. While responsibility for wildfire prevention and protection rests with a wide range of stakeholders, utilities are near top of the list. History has taught us hard lessons about how powerline infrastructure can spark or contribute to a blaze.
Make no mistake: utilities take these risks very seriously. However, given the threat to life and property, it is imperative that they continue to look for ways to improve preparedness and reduce risk. If they don’t, not only are people and communities at risk, but the utilities themselves may be imperiled – shares in Hawaiian Electric Industries fell 40% to their lowest level in more than a decade in the wake of recent fires. The good news is that there are powerful AI-powered technologies that can improve asset maintenance, vegetation management and reduce wildfire risk while also delivering commercial benefits simultaneously today. The bad news is that utilities may not have the luxury of a ‘calm’ period to focus on the future. Any improvements must be made in parallel with responding to current threats.
A Herculean task
First, in the context of wildfires, what exactly are the responsibilities of utilities? We know that downed powerlines have been ignition sources for previous fires when they come into contact with, for example, dry vegetation. That critical moment has two sides to the equation: the asset and the surrounding environment. Utilities have responsibilities in regard to both.
In terms of the assets themselves, utilities are responsible for ensuring they are fit for purpose and well maintained. A split wooden utility pole is more likely to come down in high winds; a pole- mounted transformer that has worked loose from its fixings could fall.
In terms of the surrounding environment, utilities spend vast resources on vegetation management – cutting back encroaching foliage that could pose an ignition risk if it comes into contact with the line, or that could damage assets if downed in high winds. For context, this job has never been easy, but today it is more difficult than ever. Scientists have calculated that 90% of Hawaii is getting less rainfall than it did a century ago, creating an environment that
Above: A living digital twin (LDT) can be analysed by human operators backed up by AI algorithms to identify hotspots for likely asset damage or vegetation encroachment
is inherently riskier for utilities. Climate change and changing weather patterns make what was already a difficult task into a much more complex one.
What does this mean? In practice, it means that utilities must dispatch teams to manually inspect their assets for signs of wear and weakness. If they find issues that must be rectified, they will then report back, and a work order will be issued for a repair team to go out and fix the issue based on urgency and severity. In parallel, if there are concerns over vegetation encroachment, an arborist team will be sent out to inspect, then report back with a quote to cut back to specifications. That initial pre-inspection can cost as much as $800 per mile, not even factoring in the cost for the actual work order.
So, that is two sets of specialist teams sent to perform manual inspections on the assets themselves and the vegetation that surrounds them; followed by separate follow-ups to rectify any issues identified.
That is a lot of work, and a lot of expense. And that’s not all – this is compounded by the fact that utility maps of their assets are frequently wildly inaccurate. We have seen areas where utilities have underestimated the number of poles they have in an area, and have mapped
their locations dozens, if not hundreds of yards out of sync with reality.
This isn’t as surprising as it may seem, though. Remember that some of these assets date back to the 1800s, that paper records get lost, and that it’s very easy for discrepancies of any size between designs and as-built to creep into any project.
This introduces huge inefficiencies into the process of inspecting and maintaining the network effectively. There are instances where work crews are dispatched to the wrong location or find the job very different from their scope of work once they get there. In the worst-case scenario, assets that have fallen off the map may be under-inspected and maintained. Now, consider that there are more than
200 000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines across the USA. It is a truly Herculean task to stay on top of, and utility resources are not infinite: they must strike a balance between responsible operations, profitability, and respect for the ratepayer.
Any tension between these stakeholders evaporates when the worst comes to pass. Shareholders and executives who have an incentive to prefer lower operational expenditure are not well-served by hits to the share price and regulatory fines. Ratepayers also don’t want high
www.modernpowersystems.com | November/December 2023 | 23
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55
