Weather-related blackouts due to fallen trees have become a norm in the United States. Customers across the country have faced this ordeal on a regular basis and so have power restoration workers. Weather-related power outages due to vegetation risks and hazards have been a constant challenge for power utilities. Power utilities have worked relentlessly to ensure vegetation-related outages can be avoided, but it’s never been an easy task to achieve. 

The AiDash team recently took a trip out to Minneapolis for the Utility Arborist Association’s (UAA) Trees and Utilities 2021 conference. During the three days of the conference, we met arborists, vegetation managers, and utility industry professionals who are experts in the field of vegetation management.

Since one aim of the conference was knowledge sharing, we wanted to share some of what we learned while we were there.

What can governments, enterprises, and technology providers do with a few billion dollars? Make massive strides in socio-economic and scientific advancement, you’d say. But today, years of economic development have come undone as climate change and disasters wreak havoc in the United States. 

Did you know that the practice of Utility Vegetation Management (UVM) is over 100 years old? The evolution of UVM has not happened overnight and several technologies have aided and enhanced this practice over time. UVM practitioners have utilized a variety of data to both optimize and streamline budgeting, planning, prioritization, and risk aversion.

The US has been an unwilling host to a wide range of weather-related disaster events in the recent past. Disasters often hit the land and power utilities are at the receiving end of it, having to clean up the mess. One of the direct consequences of human-induced climate change is extreme temperature conditions. Experts suggest that global warming and climate change will bring about more disaster events with far-reaching consequences in the near future. Last year, utility companies faced losses worth 51.146 billion USD in revenue owing to overall damages.

The safety and reliability of pipelines transporting oil and gas particularly natural gas transmission pipelines, have been under constant public scrutiny in recent years. This has led to it becoming an important and controversial issue for the general public, especially the customers.

None can deny that satellite technology has now become an indispensable part of everyday life. From tracking vegetation coverage and change detection to disaster monitoring and post-restoration work after disaster events satellite imagery has indeed proved to be a revolutionary technological advancement with several tricks up its sleeve. 

Natural disasters are increasing in frequency and severity. They are always unfortunate, having been associated with destruction, causing enormous damage to life and property and leaving behind trails of wreckage for utilities to clean up. Impacts of disaster events on human lives and the economy are increasing every year due to growing urbanization and human-induced climate change leading to increased carbon emissions, eventually leading to an increase in the number and severity of extreme weather events. 

Power outages are a cause of major inconvenience in every country all around the world, especially if they are on a massive scale. The United States is no exception. According to one analysis, the United States has more power outages than any other developed country. Frequent power outages are becoming an unfortunate norm for power utilities in the United States. For large utility companies, the cost of an outage can escalate into millions of dollars per hour of downtime. In fact, the DoE recently estimated that outages are costing the US economy 150 billion USD annually.