AEP Ohio to use drones in attempt to shorten power outages

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- AEP Ohio installed its first drone docking station in an effort to reduce the frequency and duration of power outages.

“With this docking station, we’ll be actively monitoring the circuits flying over our power lines, poles and equipment to identify issues on those pieces of equipment and then we're able to relay that information back to our crews to get the issues fixed,” AEP Ohio Project Manager Jake Reed said.

The docking station is at the substation that serves Clintonville and Linden residents. It allows the drone to stay on site and be at trouble spots within minutes.

“The intent is that we identify the solution quick and then at that point the line crew is on site ready to make the repair,” AEP Ohio Vice President of Distribution Operations Ryan Forbes said.

The docking station will also allow AEP Ohio workers to pilot the drones remotely.

“When there’s trouble, with the click of a button, we’re able to deploy the drone from here in headquarters in Gahanna,” Forbes said.

From the Center for Customer Reliability, drone pilots can conduct weekly inspections. So not only are they responding to outages, they’re trying to prevent them.

“In the past year, we’ve found almost 300 instances where we fixed an outage before it happened,” Forbes said.

During the inspections, drone pilots look for things like trees getting too close to power lines or damaged equipment. Forbes said the drone gives them views they’ve never had before, including a thermal camera.

“We're trying to assess equipment. We’re trying to find what liabilities are on the circuit such that we can derisk the system and ultimately prevent the outages from happening,” he said.

This docking station is serving as a pilot with the goal of expanding to all areas that AEP Ohio serves.