2021 Unmanned Systems for Utilities

December 14-15, 2021 | Online ::

“I really enjoyed learning from other utilities and meeting industry counterparts. Our program will definitely benefit from attending this conference.” -UAS Program Lead, San Diego Gas & Electric

“Absolutely wonderful conference, by the way.  All topics were extremely relevant and covered well.  The networking opportunity was the best I’ve experienced so far! “ – Operational Strategy & Business Intelligence – Strategic Initiatives, ComEd

“A rich environment for collaboration and sharing best practices information.” – Flight Ops Supervisor, Southern California Edison

Unmanned systems continue to prove themselves as an essential service to the energy industry. A growing number of utilities have benefited from adopting drones and other unmanned systems to inspect transmission and distribution infrastructure, generation facilities, renewable infrastructure, and other operations as they seek to increase efficiency, aid in asset management, cut costs, and improve worker safety. Unmanned systems such as drones have become an indispensable tool for an electric utility while other unmanned technologies are also starting to be used and will touched on in this program.

In its 7^th year, this program will explore the ever-changing use and integration of unmanned systems in utility operations. Attendees will benefit directly from discussions on the beneficial use of unmanned systems covering applications such as: asset management, assisting with storm restoration activities, vegetation control applications, confined space inspection, improved tools and technology available, and more which can assist electric utilities across a wide spectrum of necessary inspections and usages. 

Learning Outcomes

• Listen to Evergy discuss what was learned from building upon the early stages of development and then scaling their UAS program throughout the company
• Discover what TVA has been learning from their program and one newer application for testing herbicide applications
• Review what Eversource has gained from using drones for storm restoration activities and those benefits
• PG&E will discuss how inspecting structures in high fire risk areas and how that program is enabling largescale remote inspection and rapid maintenance
• Engage with a panel of utility professionals on the many lessons learned and challenges faced in developing and building a successful UAS program
• Discover creative solutions for data collection using UAS with the sensing technology that is available for various applications
• Interact with a panel of UAS experts on the possibilities that exist with unmanned technologies and what the future may hold
• Review how Southern Company continues to develop their UAS program while focusing UAS on supporting power delivery’s routine activities
• List the steps for the Type Certification process, what is involved, and what it means to operate a certified aircraft after certification
• Xcel Energy will discuss what it has learned from UAS as well as other unmanned technologies and their use in their program

Tuesday, December 14, 2021 : Central Time

9:00 – 9:10 a.m. :: Introductions and Welcome

9:10 – 10:00 a.m. :: Strategies for Establishing a Scalable UAS Program

With UAS becoming more of a commonplace within the utility space, many companies are working on establishing an internal UAS program.  While getting the program started is a challenge all its own – in most cases, building upon the early stages of development and scaling the program throughout the company is an area where many companies begin to lose momentum. This presentation will cover Evergy’s experience with these specific challenges regarding scaling the program, and how they were overcome by implementing key strategies that helped push Evergy’s UAS operations through the proof-of-concept stage and to where it is today.

Mike Kelly, Sr. UAS Coordinator, Evergy

10:00 – 10:50 a.m. :: Continuing Applications for UAS at TVA

This presentation will quickly review the general program at TVA highlighting UAS applications for internal inspections, LiDAR for transmission & other projects.  A newer application for TVA has been testing herbicide applications, so lessons learned and insights from this use will also be reviewed and discussed.

Walt Hodges, UAS Ops & Training – Aviation Services, Tennessee Valley Authority

10:50 – 11:05 a.m. :: Morning Break

11:05 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. :: Incorporating Drone Use into Post Storm Utility Restoration

This presentation will focus on the beneficial aspects of using drones to survey post-storm damage and more. Over the past 2 years Eversource has been evaluating and using drones for storm restoration activities and this will cover some of the benefits and lessons gained from this experience.

Elizabeth Hall, Lead Engineer, Drone Engineering, Eversource Energy

12:00  – 12:45 p.m. :: Lunch Break

12:45 – 1:35 pm. :: Mitigating Wildfire Risk: Lessons Learned on the World’s Largest UAS-Based Inspection Campaign

The increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters are forcing utilities to commit to programmatic inspections of overhead assets.  PG&E’s transmission inspection program is setting the standard for the industry.  The pressure to inspect structures in high fire risk areas is intense, and the program has responded by deploying an army of field teams with UAS to capture and deliver data to their engineers, enabling largescale remote inspection and rapid maintenance.  This session will cover some of the challenges and lessons learned over the last 18 months of the program.

Renner Vaughn, VP U.S., Cyberhawk

Adam Saciuk, COO U.S., Cyberhawk

1:35 – 2:35 p.m. :: Challenges in Building a UAS Program Panel Discussion

This interactive panel discussion will discuss lessons learned and challenges faced in developing and building a successful UAS program.

Mike Kelly, Sr. UAS Coordinator, Evergy

Eileen Lockhart, UAS Program Manager, Xcel Energy

James Pierce, Supervisor – UAS Operations, AI Development Lead, Ameren

2:35 – 2:50 p.m. :: Afternoon Break

2:50 – 3:40 p.m. :: Risk-Based Decision Analysis for Utility Managers

Managing a utility requires balancing hundreds of thousands of risks on the network at any one time. Resource constraints mean the risks must be optimally assessed and actions must be effectively prioritized. Drones have become an effective tool for acquiring remotely sensed data for power pole inspections and for modelling assets, but the data has not been adequately integrated into the risk-based decision analysis. Jeff Cozart, CEO of Juniper Unmanned will discuss using remotely sensed data for problem identification, prioritized mitigation, and ranking for cost and risk optimization.

Jeffery Cozart, CEO, Juniper Unmanned

3:40  – 4:40 p.m. :: Unmanned Technology and Application Advances Panel Discussion

If you want to know what is new and how it can benefit your company, then engage in this panel discussion with leading service providers highlighting the possibilities that exist with unmanned technologies and what the future may hold.

Justin Steinke, VP of Operations, Areion UAS

Renner Vaughn, VP U.S., Cyberhawk

Jeffery Cozart, CEO, Juniper Unmanned

Wednesday, December 15, 2021 : Central Time

9:00  – 9:45 am. :: Utilization of UAS at Southern Company

Hear how Southern Company continues to develop their UAS program and its applications while focusing UAS on supporting power delivery’s routine activities as well as focus on the company’s use of drones for increased storm restoration activities.

Bobby Hawthorne, Distribution Engineering Services Manager, Alabama Power Company

9:45  – 10:45 a.m. :: Unlocking scalable BVLOS operations through Type Certification

The FAA Type Certification process aims to remove the hurdles faced by utility operators who wish to operate Beyond Visual Line of Sight for long linear inspections. Type Certification is slowly becoming the only route to scalable BVLOS flights without the tractional restrains imposed by the waiver or exemption process. This presentation will discuss how the Type Certification process works, what is involved, and what it means to operate a certified aircraft after the certification has been issued.

Justin Steinke, VP of Operations, Areion UAS

10:45  – 11:00 a.m. :: Morning Break

11:00 – 11:45 a.m. :: Expanding Unmanned Technology Applications

This presentation will review what Xcel Energy has learned from its UAS program as well as what other unmanned technologies it has employed to provide critical data of their systems and assets.

Peter Salatas, UAS Pilot and Program Instructor, Xcel Energy

• Jeffery Cozart, CEO, Juniper Unmanned

• Elizabeth Hall, Lead Engineer, Drone Engineering, Eversource Energy

• Walt Hodges, UAS Ops & Training – Aviation Services, Tennessee Valley Authority

• Bobby Hawthorne, Distribution Engineering Services Manager, Alabama Power Company

• Mike Kelly, Sr. UAS Coordinator, Evergy

• James Pierce, Supervisor – UAS Operations, AI Development Lead, Ameren

• Adam Saciuk, COO U.S., Cyberhawk

• Peter Salatas, UAS Pilot and Program Instructor, Xcel Energy

• Justin Steinke, VP of Operations, Areion UAS

• Renner Vaughn, VP U.S., Cyberhawk

We will be using Microsoft Teams to facilitate your participation in the upcoming event. You do not need to have an existing Teams account in order to participate in the broadcast – the course will play in your browser and you will have the option of using a microphone to speak with the room and ask questions, or type any questions in via the chat window and our on-site representative will relay your question to the instructor.

• You will receive a meeting invitation will include a link to join the meeting.
• Separate meeting invitations will be sent for the morning and afternoon sessions of the course.
  • You will need to join the appropriate meeting at the appropriate time.
• If you are using a microphone, please ensure that it is muted until such time as you need to ask a question.
• The remote meeting connection will be open approximately 30 minutes before the start of the course. We encourage you to connect as early as possible in case you experience any unforeseen problems.

REGISTER NOW FOR THIS EVENT:

2021 Unmanned Systems for Utilities

December 14-15, 2021 | Online

Your registration may be transferred to a member of your organization up to 24 hours in advance of the event. Cancellations must be received on or before November 07, 2021 in order to be refunded and will be subject to a US $195.00 processing fee per registrant. No refunds will be made after this date. Cancellations received after this date will create a credit of the tuition (less processing fee) good toward any other EUCI event. This credit will be good for six months from the cancellation date. In the event of non-attendance, all registration fees will be forfeited. In case of conference cancellation, EUCIs liability is limited to refund of the event registration fee only. For more information regarding administrative policies, such as complaints and refunds, please contact our offices at 303-770-8800

Credits

EUCI is accredited by the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and offers IACET CEUs for its learning events that comply with the ANSI/IACET Continuing Education and Training Standard. IACET is recognized internationally as a standard development organization and accrediting body that promotes quality of continuing education and training.

EUCI is authorized by IACET to offer 0.9 CEUs for this event.

Requirements for Successful Completion of Program

Participants must log in each day and be in attendance for the entirety of the conference to be eligible for continuing education credit.

Instructional Methods

Case studies & PowerPoint presentations

Who Should Attend

• EPCs (Engineering/Procurement/Construction)
• Surveyors
• Technology Leads
• Geographic Information Officers
• Supervisor of GIS
• Director of Operations
• Operations & maintenance professionals in electric transmission & distribution
• T&D line inspection maintenance personnel
• T&D safety personnel
• Security professionals in the utility industry
• Attorneys who work in the utility industry
• Anyone else interested in learning more about how UAS can be used within T&D

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