Awesome! Alaska Using High-Tech Drones to Clear Power Lines

When it comes to electrical service, Alaska has its share of challenges. Almost all of our power lines are above ground, on poles. Here in South-Central, our terrain is heavily wooded. Winter weather can be severe, with ice and winds damaging lines, tossing branches, and dropping trees. Even in summer, we get the occasional spell of high winds that can cause damage. And the landscape, even here in the Matanuska-Susitna (Mat-Su) Borough, is vast, with lines sometimes running for miles between customers.

Patrolling those easements, to keep the trees and brush under control, is a considerable task. To make that more efficient, the Mat-Su's major energy provider, the Matanuska Electric Association, has come up with a cool solution: Using drones to patrol the easements.

MEA is taking to the skies to enhance reliability and improve vegetation management across our service area. Our new drone program uses high-resolution imaging and LiDAR technology to efficiently map areas where trees and vegetation may encroach on power lines. This innovative approach allows us to better plan easement clearing, reduce outage risks, and keep our crews and members safe. The data collected is strictly limited to MEA rights-of-way and easements—we are not capturing images of homes or personal property. Rest assured, all drone operations are conducted by FAA-licensed pilots following strict safety and privacy protocols. By identifying problem areas before they cause outages, MEA can reduce inspection time, optimize clearing schedules, and deliver more reliable service to our members.

Here, have a look at the drones in action:

Q: Will MEA drones be taking pictures of my home or private property?
No. MEA drones only collect data within utility rights-of-way and easements. We are not capturing imagery of homes or personal property, and all drone flights follow strict privacy and safety guidelines.

Q: Who operates the drones, and are they licensed?
All drone operations are conducted by FAA-licensed pilots who follow federal regulations and MEA’s internal safety and privacy protocols to ensure responsible and secure data collection.

There's a cool factor to this, but it's also an illustration of something I've been saying, and writing, for years: We solve today's problems with tomorrow's technology. Drones are still a pretty new piece of tech, and we're still finding out all the uses they can be put to, from un-aliving bad guys to patrolling power lines in the Great Land.

See Also: Anxious New Yorkers: You Should Avoid Alaska at All Costs

The Big, Beautiful Bill Has Some Surprising Benefits for Alaska

Most of us living out here in the borough have backups, of course, but we like keeping the lights on through the usual process as much as possible. The MEA is pretty dedicated to doing just that, but Alaska's conditions can make that challenging. There are plenty of other places where this might hold, from Wyoming to Georgia, and this looks like a promising new bit of technology, once again, making folks' lives a little easier, making their energy supply a little more reliable, and saving a few bucks in the process.

Plus, it's pretty cool. Yeah, it's pretty cool.

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