Avangrid, the Orange Connecticut headquartered provider of utility services across Connecticut and surrounding states, announced on August 21 the implementation of accumulated data to improve the reliability of the power grid.
The new initiative uses data analytics to prioritize tree maintenance in the areas where it is most needed in a proactive manner, potentially preventing power interruptions from happening in the first place.
Piloted at Avangrid subsidiaries New York State Electric & Gas and Rochester Gas and Electric, the company reports that the process has already yielded significant benefits for customers by preventing more outages for less cost.
“We’re always looking to innovative our tree maintenance programs because trees are a leading cause of outages for our customers,” said Pedro Azagra, Avangrid CEO. “Launching this data-driven method has evolved our approach and created many efficiencies, particularly when it comes to danger trees. These dead or decaying trees are outside of the distribution right-of-way but still pose a significant threat to the power grid. Our new prioritization method has resulted in us removing more danger trees in a month than ever before, and at a cheaper cost. This will substantially benefit our customers’ reliability, especially as are in the height of the summer storm season. I’d like to thank the New York Public Service Commission for its support of our vegetation management programs and for recognizing the value they are delivering to our customers.”
The press release notes that across these subsidiaries there are 42,800 miles of powerlines, threatened by more than 10,000 so-called “danger trees.” In the past, tree cutting operations relied primarily on calls from concerned customers, reports about which circuits performed the worst, or plans made by local arborists. The new approach uses data points such as historical performance of each powerline, the number of customers served by those lines, and information about the trees in the area and the lines themselves to determine the highest priority areas for tree cutting.
This approach has been a game changer,” said Erin Perry, manager of Vegetation Management at NYSEG. “With all our data pulled together into one system, I can look at our service area map and see not only where the danger trees are located, but also their risk to our customers. I’m pleased with the efficiency this has created and how it has resulted in improved reliability for our customers.”
The system will be rolled out to other Avangrid areas in the near future, leveraging millions of data points across multiple states to further improve service. Additional upgrades to the program could include more granular data and even the implementation of AI.
