Wildfires are intensifying across the U.S., with utilities facing unprecedented challenges as these disasters threaten grid infrastructure and customer safety. Traditional reactive approaches are no longer sufficient, as utilities struggle to balance operational reliability with the growing need for proactive, data-driven risk management in an increasingly volatile climate landscape.
This webinar reveals how leading utilities are transforming their wildfire mitigation strategies through AI-powered solutions, predictive insights and digital grid asset management. Industry experts share proven methodologies for anticipating risks, optimizing maintenance schedules, and maintaining grid resilience while reducing wildfire exposure.
Explore:
- How digitalization of grid assets enhances wildfire risk visibility and supports smarter decision-making
- Real-world applications of AI and geospatial analysis in proactive threat prevention
- Strategies for combining risk assessment with predictive maintenance for faster, smarter risk mitigation
How does Grid Vision work with national wildfire agencies like NIFC, and does government shutdown impact data availability?
We use the best available private utility data as well as public wildfire and situational data, as appropriate. As an asset management and planning tool, our platform is designed to operate independently and not reliant on government data feeds, ensuring continuous access to inspection insights, asset health indicators, and high-risk component detection.
Are insurance carriers working with utilities to strengthen wildfire risk programs?
Yes. We see growing collaboration between insurers and utilities to reduce financial exposure. Grid Vision helps utilities provide objective evidence of proactive maintenance and risk reduction, which supports insurance discussions and lowers long-term risk costs.
Which regions outside the Western United States are most exposed to wildfire risk and need predictive mitigation tools?
Wildfire risk is rising in the Mountain States, Texas, the Southeast, and parts of the Northeast due to climatic shifts and expanding electrification. We are seeing strong interest in predictive wildfire programs in Canada and Europe, particularly in regions with aging overhead networks near vegetation and communities.
How do you help cost-sensitive utilities justify investment in AI and wildfire mitigation technology?
We focus on operational outcomes. Utilities using Grid Vision report faster inspections, reduced helicopter and field exposure, better prioritization of capital work, and lower likelihood of ignition events. Early, targeted action reduces long-term costs and improves customer and regulator confidence.
Can Grid Vision use Vexcel imagery or other high-resolution aerial datasets?
Yes. Grid Vision is data-flexible and supports Vexcel and similar providers when available. When coverage gaps exist, we work with utilities and partners to capture imagery using drones, helicopters, or satellite data at the appropriate resolution. We’re agnostic to the data capture hardware, as long as it meets the resolution requirements to power Grid Vision’s analytics.
Do you support regions where high-resolution imagery is limited, such as parts of California or Los Angeles?
We help utilities deploy the right capture approach for their network. Grid Vision supports RGB, LiDAR, and thermal data so utilities can expand coverage quickly and build consistent inspection programs that scale across all assets.
During an active wildfire, can Grid Vision account for incident team strategies and tactics?
We provide an accurate view of asset intelligence and geospatial context from recent image capture, to help utilities understand system risks. Utilities can overlay incident response zones and suppression perimeters to support prioritization and restoration decision making.
How close is the industry to integrating operational system data with weather, imagery, and geospatial intelligence?
Utilities are moving rapidly to connect asset condition data with outage events, line faults, weather, and vegetation. Grid Vision can feed risk insights into operational and planning systems, helping utilities focus efforts where the grid and the environment create the highest ignition potential. With our public APIs our strategy is to be a proponent of an integrated ecosystem approach, to deliver the best outcomes for our customers.
What type of weather data does Grid Vision require to support proactive wildfire mitigation?
We use surface-based measurements where available, along with environmental data such as wind, temperature, drought indices, and vegetation, which can be overlayed in Grid Vision. Combined with inspection intelligence, this supports identification of high-risk components and zones by combining these data sets for blended risk assessment.
How do you reduce false positives and maintain trust in AI inspection results?
Our models are trained with utility-validated data and continuously improved through operator feedback using our VerifyAI processes. Utilities control acceptance of findings, and every insight includes traceable image evidence so decisions remain accurate, transparent, and auditable.
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eSmart Systems and envelio are excited to announce their partnership to support utilities with their asset management and grid planning decisions.
eSmart Systems’ Grid Vision® solution powered by AI enables utilities to scale virtual inspections and grid inventory while digitalizing transmission and distribution assets with an image-based digital asset, combining inspection data, substation assets, metadata and grid topology to provide actionable insights and downstream value beyond the inspection.
envelio’s Intelligent Grid Platform empowers utilities by delivering a digital twin of the distribution grids. The platform unites relevant grid data from multiple sources into one platform to digitalize and automate grid planning and grid operation processes. Applications like Grid Planning and Grid Study enable the evaluation of future scenarios and their effect on the power grids. The results can then be used for strategic grid planning.
Bringing the two solutions together unlocks a powerful combination of an accurate image-based digital asset with the digital twin, resulting in a knowledge-based platform to support utilities to break down silos between grid operations, investment planning and condition monitoring to provide holistic and accurate information on the conditional and physical state of the grid. Based on these additional insights on the power flow and mechanical asset data combined, utilities can enable improved maintenance and inspection planning, support unplanned outage response and improve long term asset investments and strategic grid planning for their power grids.
The partnership between eSmart Systems and envelio will enable a giant leap in the cross-functional use of data from both our worlds. This will benefit multiple departments and user groups within the utility, due to the exchange and uplift of the different types of information we each focus on.
Innovation partnerships like the one with eSmart Systems are the key to the energy transition. Together we create a solution with a technological best-of-breed approach that enables cost-optimized and accelerated asset management and expansion planning of the power grids and thereby supporting grid operators in meeting the challenges of the energy transition.
- Inspektionsdienstleistungs-Programm zur Bereitstellung einer vollständigen virtuellen Inspektion des AllgäuNetz Freileitung Hochspannungsnetz.
- Virtuelle Inspektion unterstützt durch Künstliche Intelligenz.
Die AllgäuNetz ist Verteilnetzbetreiber im südlichen Allgäu in Deutschland. Gemeinsam mit eSmart Systems beginnt AllgäuNetz die Zusammenarbeit mit dem Ziel die Inspektion des Freileitungsnetzes deutlich zu verbessern. Die Lösung der eSmart Systems ermöglicht eine virtuelle Inspektion der Freileitungen, die durch eine künstliche Intelligenz unterstützt wird.
Mit diesem Schritt unterstreicht AllgäuNetz ihre Strategie, verstärkt erneuerbare Energien zu integrieren, den Ausbau intelligenter Netze auszudehnen und die Digitalisierung ihrer Assets und Prozesse voranzutreiben. Dies dient dazu, die Energiewende zu unterstützen und gleichzeitig das hohe Maß an Versorgungssicherheit für die AllgäuNetz Kunden zu optimieren.
Wir waren sehr beeindruckt vom Ansatz und der Methodik von eSmart Systems zur Unterstützung unserer Inspektionsanforderungen. Im Rahmen eines ersten Pilotprojekts lieferten die qualitativ hochwertigen und präzisen Inspektionsergebnisse, die im Rahmen von Grid Vision® bereitgestellt wurden, wertvolle Einblicke in unsere kritische Infrastruktur. Wir freuen uns, dies nun in unserem gesamten Hochspannungsnetzbetrieb in dieser Qualität durchführen zu können.
Im Rahmen dieser Partnerschaft bietet eSmart Systems eine vollständige Ende-zu-Ende-Inspektionslösung von der Bilderfassung mit Drohnen und automatisierten Flugmustern bis hin zur virtuellen Inspektion mit Grid Vision®. Somit erhöhen wir die Inspektionseffizienz. Diese Partnerschaft wird sicherere, genauere und effizientere Sichtprüfungen der Freileitungen ermöglichen und die Inspektionskosten optimieren. Zusätzlich wird das Programm ein bildbasiertes digitales Abbild der Freileitungsanlagen erstellen, welches die AllgäuNetz dabei unterstützt, sich bei der Investitionsplanung auf Betriebsmittel, basierend auf ihrem Zustand, für Wartungs- und Reinvestitionsmaßnahmen zu konzentrieren.
The partnership between eSmart Systems and envelio will enable a giant leap in the cross-functional use of data from both our worlds. This will benefit multiple departments and user groups within the utility, due to the exchange and uplift of the different types of information we each focus on.
Über die AllgäuNetz GmbH & Co. KG
Die AllgäuNetz GmbH & Co. KG ist der Verteilnetzbetreiber im südlichen Allgäu und versorgt 144.000 Kunden sicher mit Strom.
Eine sichere und zuverlässige Stromversorgung ist eine wichtige Grundlage unserer Gesellschaft. AllgäuNetz GmbH & Co. KG, als Allgäuer Unternehmen Kraftwerke GmbH, Allgäuer Überlandwerk GmbH, Energiegenossenschaft z.B. Mittelberg, Energiebedarf Oberstdorf GmbH und Energiebedarf Oy- Kressen eG stellt sich dieser Verantwortung konsequent.
Mit unseren Mitarbeitern sind wir für große Teile des Stromnetzes im südlichen Allgäu verantwortlich. Das in Betrieb befindliche Stromnetz umfasst ca. 5.500 km Leitungen auf einer Fläche von ca. 1.700 km².
Durch das Zusammenspiel erneuerbarer Energien, intelligenten Netzausbau und -betrieb sowie zuverlässige flächendeckende Betreuung sorgen wir für ein hohes Maß an Versorgungssicherheit.
Gemeinsam mit unseren Privatkunden, Gewerbebetrieben und den Gemeinden im südlichen Allgäu arbeiten wir täglich an der sich verändernden Energielandschaft und setzen die Veränderungen gemeinsam innovativ und zielorientiert um.
Über eSmart Systems
eSmart Systems ist ein führender Anbieter von KI-gestützten Lösungen für die Inspektion und Wartung kritischer Infrastrukturen. Mit unserer Softwarelösung, Grid Vision® revolutionieren wir die Betriebs- und Wartungsprozesse von Netzbetreibern für ihre Übertragungs- und Verteilungsnetze. Wir unterstützen Netzbetreiber weltweit dabei, Inspektionskosten zu senken, Inspektionen sicherer zu gestalten, die Qualität der Asset informationen zu verbessern und die Lebensdauer der Assets zu verlängern.
- Inspection as a Service program to deliver full virtual inspection of AllgäuNetz’s distribution network.
- Virtual inspection supported by Artificial Intelligence.
AllgäuNetz the Distribution System Operator in southern Allgäu, Germany is partnering with eSmart Systems to transition their infrastructure inspection from manual to virtual inspection supported by Artificial Intelligence. This move is to emphasize AllgäuNetz’s strategy of integrating more renewables and expanding their intelligent networks and digitalizing their assets and operations to support the energy transition and optimise a high level of security of supply to their customers.
Wir waren sehr beeindruckt vom Ansatz und der Methodik von eSmart Systems zur Unterstützung unserer Inspektionsanforderungen. Im Rahmen eines ersten Pilotprojekts lieferten die qualitativ hochwertigen und präzisen Inspektionsergebnisse, die im Rahmen von Grid Vision® bereitgestellt wurden, wertvolle Einblicke in unsere kritische Infrastruktur. Wir freuen uns, dies nun in unserem gesamten Hochspannungsnetzbetrieb in dieser Qualität durchführen zu können.
As part of this partnership eSmart Systems will provide the full end-to-end inspection solution from image capture with automated flight patterns and drones to the virtual inspection, which will provide safer, more accurate and efficient visual inspections and will optimize the inspection costs. The program will also build an image-based digital asset alongside the inspection which will support AllgäuNetz to focus on assets based on condition for maintenance and rebuilds.
The partnership between eSmart Systems and envelio will enable a giant leap in the cross-functional use of data from both our worlds. This will benefit multiple departments and user groups within the utility, due to the exchange and uplift of the different types of information we each focus on.
About AllgäuNetz GmbH & Co. KG
AllgäuNetz GmbH & Co. KG is the Distribution System Operator in southern Allgäu, Germany, supplying safe and secure electricity to 144,000 customers.
A safe and reliable power supply is an important basis for our society. AllgäuNetz GmbH & Co. KG, as a company belonging to Allgäuer Kraftwerke GmbH, Allgäuer Überlandwerk GmbH, Energiegenossenschaft eG Mittelberg, Energiebedarf Oberstdorf GmbH and Energiebedarf Oy-Kressen eG, consistently faces up to this responsibility.
With our employees, we are responsible for large parts of the power grid in southern Allgäu. The power grid in operation includes approximately 5,500 km of lines in an area of approximately 1,700 km².
Through the interaction of renewable energies, intelligent network expansion and operation as well as reliable support across the area, we ensure a high level of security of supply.
Together with our private customers, commercial businesses and the communities in southern Allgäu, we work daily on the changing energy landscape and implement the changes together in an innovative and goal-oriented manner.
About eSmart Systems
eSmart Systems is a leading provider of AI-powered solutions for the inspection and maintenance of critical infrastructure. With our software solution, Grid Vision® we revolutionize how utility companies operate and maintain their transmission and distribution networks. We support utilities globally to reduce inspection costs, make inspections safer, improve the quality of asset data and prolong asset life. eSmart Systems has more than 20 years of international experience in establishing and operating knowledge-based, leading IT and energy-related companies targeting global markets.
- 5-year program to digitalize and automate current inspection process to a complete Artificial Intelligence (AI) image-based virtual inspection.
- The inspection program will focus on distribution grid with a focus on wood, steel and concrete structures.
- BKW will utilize AI to improve the speed and quality of the virtual inspection process.
The program will utilize eSmart Systems Grid Vision® solution, powered by AI to support the high voltage distribution grid with inspection and maintenance. This partnership will provide safer, more accurate and efficient visual inspections and will optimize the inspection costs.
Grid Vision® will be delivered as a Software as Service solution for BKW Energie. The solution delivers automation from day one through the 40+ AI models that are already trained on over 15 million global images. Through a Collaborative-AI approach, BKW will automate their virtual inspections to improve the quality and speed of inspections. The partnership will enable BKW Energie to transition their inspection processes to condition-based asset maintenance over time with the use of Grid Vision® Insight.
Wir waren sehr beeindruckt vom Ansatz und der Methodik von eSmart Systems zur Unterstützung unserer Inspektionsanforderungen. Im Rahmen eines ersten Pilotprojekts lieferten die qualitativ hochwertigen und präzisen Inspektionsergebnisse, die im Rahmen von Grid Vision® bereitgestellt wurden, wertvolle Einblicke in unsere kritische Infrastruktur. Wir freuen uns, dies nun in unserem gesamten Hochspannungsnetzbetrieb in dieser Qualität durchführen zu können.
By lowering their carbon footprint through reduced field visits, and focusing on assets based on condition for maintenance and rebuilds, BKW Energie is building for a sustainable future and the partnership with eSmart Systems will support these initiatives with integrating more low carbon technologies onto the grid.
The partnership between eSmart Systems and envelio will enable a giant leap in the cross-functional use of data from both our worlds. This will benefit multiple departments and user groups within the utility, due to the exchange and uplift of the different types of information we each focus on.
About BKW
The electricity grid is the backbone of modern society. As the operator of Switzerland’s largest distribution system, BKW ensures that electricity flows reliably from producers to consumers. We plan and build grid infrastructure and make the most of the opportunities that digitalization has to offer to create sustainable living spaces.
We distribute electricity to one million people in our supply area via 22,000 km of lines and 188,000 grid connections. By running our grid safely and efficiently, we can offer our new customers access to it based on their needs.
About eSmart Systems
eSmart Systems is a leading provider of AI-powered solutions for the inspection and maintenance of critical infrastructure. With our software solution, Grid Vision® we revolutionize how utility companies operate and maintain their transmission and distribution networks. We support utilities globally to reduce inspection costs, make inspections safer, improve the quality of asset data and prolong asset life. eSmart Systems has more than 20 years of international experience in establishing and operating knowledge-based, leading IT and energy-related companies targeting global markets.
In this whitepaper, learn what to consider and how you can realize the benefits of the new generation of infrastructure inspections and increase the resiliency of your power grid.