On a sunny morning in the hills of El Cerrito on Wednesday, a team of PG&E employees gathered to showcase its infrared drone technology that will be utilized to monitor and detect issues with the utility’s power lines.
According to PG&E, this technology is being used as part of an effort to improve safety for workers, increase efficiency, and detect issues with its infrastructure before they become large problems.
“The infrared camera captures hot spots, or thermal anomalies,” said Keith Cutrone, a drone pilot for PG&E. “We take photos, then send a notification to our thermal team where the expert eyes would be able to look over and determine what needs to be done. Depending on the issue, it could be repaired as soon as that day.”
Cutrone added that PG&E has been using drone imaging since 2019 but only started using thermal drone imaging this year. In addition, Cutrone said that this technology has allowed crews to service an area significantly faster than sending people up a pole while reducing the risk of injury to those workers.
Faulty PG&E equipment has been found to cause several wildfires in California, including the Camp Fire in 2018, after which the utility pleaded guilty to being criminally liable and unlawfully and recklessly causing the blaze as a result of gross negligence in maintaining its power lines.
PG&E also paid a $55 million settlement to avoid prosecution over the 2021 Dixie Fire and the 2019 Kinkade Fire. Cal Fire investigators determined that PG&E’s power lines were responsible for starting both fires, which burned more than a million acres combined.
According to a video produced by PG&E, the drone program has been centered around an “all wildfires shall stop” philosophy held at the company. According to the video, an inspection conducted by one of these drones can quickly identify issues with the goal of preventing wildfires from igniting.
Drew Lowdermilk, a program manager for aerial system inspections for PG&E, said that by looking at differences in temperature between components, PG&E can determine what kind of maintenance is required and how urgent it is, which allows inspectors to observe infrastructure in a more complete fashion.
“This technology allows us to see hotspots that aren’t visible to the naked eye, so it allows us to do preventative predictions and maintenance before they become an issue,” said Lowdermilk.
Mallola Khalidi, a construction manager for PG&E, added that the utility understands that neighbors to these lines may have privacy concerns related to the use of infrared technology that could potentially peer into someone’s home.
However, she assured that the technology is only being used to view lines, and that images collected by PG&E will not venture outside of line inspections and that they are not capturing any private property information with their cameras.
“Our drones are so zoomed in on the conductor and insulators. They can see down to threads of a bolt and are looking for cracks,” said PG&E spokesperson Andria Borba.
If a neighbor sees a drone inspecting lines, Cutrone added that PG&E workers will be clearly identified by their trucks, hard hats and high-visibility vests and are welcome to approach to ask questions once a drone safely lands.
