It’s easy to take for granted how easy life is with running power.  When we flip a switch a light automatically turns on, all of our appliances run smoothly, and we are able to seamlessly connect to the world around us.  We’ve become so dependent on running electricity that even the shortest breaks in power supply can offset our day.  Every year people across the country have to deal with power outages from severe storms, extreme temperatures, ice and snow, and downed power lines.  Waiting for the power to come back on can be excruciating, but luckily we live in a country that is finding rapid solutions to minimize power losses.  One such company leading the way for smart grid technologies that benefit customers is Florida Power and Light (FPL).

Founded in 1925 with their headquarters in Juno Beach, FL, FPL is the largest electrical provider in Florida.  They have close to 5 million accounts, serving upwards of 10 million people.  As hurricanes are common in Florida, power outages are also common occurrences.  Over the last decade FPL has invested $4 million in improving their power grids.  One of the biggest advancements they have utilized comes from drones.  While FPL is moving some of it’s critical power lines underground, most of them are still suspended high in the air.  FPL employees have found that drones are the perfect tools for the constant inspections they need to perform on these lines.

Eric Schwartz is a technology manager for FPL and directs the company’s drone operations.  He said, “Drones offer a huge advantage is assessing this equipment above me.  A drone gives us the ability to see a 360-degree view from above.  Our lines get a lot of damage from natural resources from above the lines, which you can’t see from the ground.”  Before introducing drones for inspections a crew would have to manually inspect the lines.  This would mean a team of 3-5 employees would need to go out to a site.  They would then need to send 1-2 of the team members soaring up to the lines to check for damages.  Not only is this a very dangerous task, but one that consumes a lot of time, energy, and resources to accomplish. 

FPL is responsible for 1.2 million power poles and 15,000 miles of power lines.  That is equal to the distance between Miami and Tokyo.  To send crews up to check all of this in a timely manner was ineffective.  Now with a permanent fleet of 30 drones FPL can safely and accurately inspect an average of 4,000 miles of lines a year.  The drones being used by FPL are inexpensive off the shelf DJI Phantom 4 Pro drones.  They cost about $2,000 each, but they are saving FPL countless hours of labor and resources.  The drones are equipped with a HD camera that can give the crew infrared, thermal, and multi-spectral images.  FPL contracts out licensed drone pilots in the area and then specially trains them to meet FPL’s standards. 

Currently FPL has a rotating crew of 60 drone pilots.  Each drone work order begins about 10 days prior to the actual flight.  Each order needs to be approved by the FAA before a drone can take to the sky.  Also, residents are notified that a FPL crew will be in the area to use a drone to inspect power lines.  That can mean anywhere from 20,000 to 60,000 calls a week to notify residents.  Schwartz said that residents are often wary from these calls.  “We get a mixed reaction, as you do with any type of new technology,” Schwartz said. “We do get calls from customers who are concerned.”  For the most part there have been no issues and FPL works hard to make sure their customers feel comfortable with the drone crews.  Each member of the crew is clearly identifiable to residents by their official FPL uniforms, hard hats, and trucks.

Once all of that is taken care of it is time to send the drone up into the air.  What once required a 4-5 person crew can now be done with 2-3 people.  The pilot guides the drone up to the power lines.  The drone then proceeds to take about 10 images from multiple angles along key spots of the power line.  These images are later inspected to create a plan of action if there is any indication of something not meeting FPL’s rigorous standards.  The drone remains within visual contact of the pilot at all times as they work their way from one pole to the next.  Schwartz said, “On average, we do 10 to 20 drone flights a day, which cover an average of 5 to 10 miles, depending on the circuit.”

Besides assisting crew’s day to day inspections, drones have been critical in helping restore power after outages.  Mike Putt, the Director of Smart Grid and Innovation at FPL said in a statement, “Drones help speed restoration efforts following severe weather and hurricanes.  Drones are also a safe, cost-effective alternative to helicopters, and their compact size makes them perfect for those hard-to-reach areas. This allows us to provide crews with timely and accurate damage assessments, which in turn helps us restore power faster after a major storm.”  When Hurricane Dorian struck Florida, FPL was quick to action.  They said that more than 4 million of their customers were along Dorian’s path.  Eric Silagy, FPL president and CEO said, “With smart grid technology, some restoration tasks that would previously have required a crew to travel to a site in the field and perform work on overhead equipment can now be resolved with the push of a button. We also deployed 58 drones to help crews get eyes on any damage to our electric system. This high-tech solution provides valuable insight into areas of dense vegetation and flooding, and helps us get the right crews and resources in the right places more quickly.”  With the help of drones and advanced smart grid technologies, FPL was able to restore power to those effected on average within the hour.

When you are so used to having power available instantly, it can be jarring when it suddenly goes out.  Thanks to FPL’s innovative use of drone technology the frequency of power outages in Florida is greatly diminishing.  If and when the power is interrupted these drones are also ensuring that power is restored to customers in a timely manner.