MGS Solutions Case Study: Harnessing Advanced Technology for Electrical Utility Inspections

When a major Electric Utility embarked on a three-year power line inspection program, they had big goals in mind. The utility serves over 1.4 million customers in one of America’s busiest regions. To achieve their program goals, they partnered with SAM, the largest Managed Geospatial Services™ company in North America. Over 2,400 miles of distribution circuits were inspected using thermal imagery, natural color, and LiDAR. This distance is equivalent from walking from Los Angeles to New York City — and it led to over one million georeferenced images and thousands of anomalies identified.

SAM possesses the ability to surge experienced resources nationwide. Additionally, SAM Inspect, a remote desktop software platform that utilizes AI/ML methods, allowed multiple inspectors to work simultaneously. This method created data collection efficiencies with Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS), permitting these crews to advance rapidly throughout the region. The utility also required the aerial LiDAR to be bulk loaded into the existing Vegetation Management software. SAM collaborated with the existing software vendor to ensure data compatibility and full integration.