Pacific Gas & Electric is deploying drones to remote areas of Santa Cruz County to monitor power lines and identify problems ahead of winter storms.
The drone flights will be carried out over the next three weeks across the Central Coast and South Bay, including in remote areas in Davenport, Watsonville and into the Santa Cruz Mountains.
The drone flights will help identify problems on distribution lines ahead of the storm season, said Stephanie Magallon, spokesperson for PG&E’s South Bay and Central Coast region. “We’re going to be able to identify any issues to address proactively before major storms hit,” she said in a statement.
PG&E operators will fly the drones and focus on 10 circuits in Santa Cruz County that provide electricity to Boulder Creek, Ben Lomond, Felton, Santa Cruz and Soquel. Each flight is expected to take 10 to 45 minutes per location, during which drones will take pictures of power lines and poles to spot potential issues and prioritize them for repair.
Operators are looking for issues like encroaching vegetation and maintenance concerns that could interfere with power transmission and cause outages, especially in areas that crews had trouble reaching in the past.
“Before using drones, we used to have crews on the ground, walking along power lines, which took a lot longer, and in certain cases it was difficult or even dangerous,” Magallon said. “Drones have really sped up that process and made it safer for our crews to be able to inspect lines.”
She said drones capture photos only of PG&E equipment, not of homes or property, and the work should not affect customers’ power.
Flights will also be conducted in Santa Clara, Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.
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