How Dominion Energy Uses Drones and Data

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Dominion Energy is a power and energy company that operates in 16 states and maintains more than 6,600 miles of overhead electric transmission lines. It wanted Comprehensive Visual Inspections (CVI) that could provide accurate data, maintain the safety of its workers, and reduce environmental impact.

The utility company used to conduct CVIs with ground teams and helicopters. But these methods can limit up-close access to assets, pose dangers to ground and flight personnel, and release emissions into the atmosphere.

PrecisionHawk, a company that offers geospatial data analytics services and tools, approached Dominion about replacing some of its inspection helicopters and ground crews with drones to improve data fidelity, safety, and environmental impact.

Steve Eisenrauch, Dominion’s Manager of Electric Transmission Forestry & Line Services at the time, worked with Dominion to get a pilot program up and running. 

“What we wanted to do was, at a minimum, recreate the CVI inspections that we did with a helicopter so that we weren’t losing anything,” said Eisenrauch. “That was our baseline. And then we wanted to see if there was anything additional we could get.”

The Dominion and PrecisionHawk teams worked together to set up the drone inspection program. When it was tested side-by-side against the previous inspection methods,  the drone really picked up on more issues on the poles. Drones can get closer to power lines than a helicopter can, and can better adjust angles to get the best view.

The drone inspections found 42% more areas of concern (AOCs), such as cotter keys backing out and flashing on insulators, than the helicopters and ground crews. Based on the successful pilot project, Dominion continued and expanded its drone-based CVI program.

Dominion and PrecisionHawk use multi-rotor drones outfitted with a sensor with an optical zoom lens to get high-resolution images. Because the inspections are done in real time, only images of AOCs are collected, greatly reducing data storage. These images are sent to Dominion’s analysts who inspect the issues and compile recommendations.

The increased accuracy and real-time feedback have enabled Dominion to take quick action on potential problems, which reduces downtime. 

All in all, the results met what Dominion set out to accomplish. According to PrecisionHawk, “In 2019, it set a new safety record—an injury rate of just 0.623, none of which were associated with aerial line inspections. And toward their environmental goals, the utility has reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 57% since 2005 and methane emissions by 25% since 2010.”

Next up, Dominion plans to automate the processing, analysis, and reporting of its inspection data using an AI-powered solution to improve efficiency even more.

A drone’s work is never done.