After the Great Northeastern Blackout in 1965 that left 30 million North Americans without power for 13 hours, we realized just how dependent we had become on our electrical grid.  In response to this, Congress held hearings in the early 70’s to address the lack of research the nation was putting into the power industries.  In 1972 Dr. Chauncey Starr who was the Dean of the UCLA School of Engineering and Applied Sciences founded the Electric Power Research Institute.  As stated on their website, “The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) conducts research, development, and demonstration projects for the benefit of the public in the United States and internationally. As an independent, nonprofit organization for public interest energy and environmental research, we focus on electricity generation, delivery, and use in collaboration with the electricity sector, its stakeholders and others to enhance the quality of life by making electric power safe, reliable, affordable, and environmentally responsible.”

Since it’s founding in 1972 EPRI has representation in 35 countries with members from more than 1,000 organizations such as electrical companies, government agencies, and research centers involved in the electricity sector.  As technologies that impact the generation, distribution, and use of electricity continue to grow EPRI has remained constant in their study of these applications.  One such field they have looked closely at is how drones can be used to impact electrical concerns.

In 2013 EPRI became one of the first major organizations to test how drones could be used in power supply emergencies.  The tests were conducted in Alabama in collaboration with the FAA to see how drones could assess power lines after a storm.  They tested two different types of drones equipped with various payloads.  Each of the drones operated at altitudes below 100ft and weighed less than 55lbs.  The payloads attached to the drones included HR digital cameras that could transmit video and images in real time to utility operators on the ground.  The drones used for this test were the Aeryon Scout built by Aeryon Labs from Canada, and the Adaptive Flight Hornet Maxi built by Adaptive Flight, Inc. based out of Marietta, GA.

Matthew Olearczyk, program manager for distribution systems research at EPRI said, “The test flight results are an important step in determining whether UAS technology can be deployed to improve the accuracy and timeliness of utility storm damage assessment.  The images and videos from these flights clearly show the potential of these combined technologies. Continuing research will better determine which combinations of aircraft and payload could offer the best results.”

With the use of drones, utility inspectors were able to inspect far more power lines in a fraction of the time it would take to do manually.  Not only did it speed up the process, but it also eliminated the need for a human to put themselves at risk by climbing utility poles just for an inspection.  The cameras on the drones were sophisticated enough to gather all necessary information.  Once all the data had been collected a proper plan of action could be put into place based on what areas needed further servicing.

In the wake of storms that the United States has faced since EPRI first began these test, drones have become invaluable tools for power supply companies.  When power has been disrupted because of hurricanes or ice storms, drones have made all the difference in getting power turned back on.  Instead of spending countless hours manually searching for faulty power lines, drones can get in there and get the job done in record time.  Once the lines in question have been located utility workers can put their efforts towards getting power turned back on more efficiently.

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