Aerial Inspections in VEC Service Territory This June
VEC has been testing the use of drones for proactive line inspections with the goal of helping us to catch issues before they cause damage or unplanned outages. We have had great success and back in March we held an innovation webinar on this work; Drones Enhance VEC's Grid Reliability and Storm Recovery. A video of that webinar can be viewed here.
This June we are expanding this work and inspections of overhead lines will be conducted in over half of VEC service territory towns. Please see town list here. We will be doing this work with the assistance of Firmatek, our drone contractor. These inspections will help identify line sections that are in need of maintenance or upgrades.
Utilizing this technology will help VEC lower costs and improve reliability. It will also allow us to inspect overhead lines without having to go onto members property. Please know that VEC is committed to protection of privacy. Images will only be taken of VEC electrical equipment and no images will be shared outside our organization. This work is also regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Firmatek will be required to adhere to all aviation laws as well as the best practices recommended by the National Telecommunication and Information Administration.
Members may see out-of-state license plates for the people doing this work, however, the vehicles will be clearly marked with “VEC Contractor” signs for easy identification. Additionally, the pilots will be wearing hi-visibility vests also labeled with “VEC Contractor”. These individuals are representatives of Firmatek and should identify themselves as such if asked.
We value our members and any questions or concerns they may have about this equipment inspection program. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Peter Rossi, Chief Operation Officer, at 802-730-1170, Monday-Friday between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. For more information about VEC utilizing drones to improve efficiency and safety please link here.