Without using LiDAR, Western Area Power Administration has discovered how to manage its vegetation management program to reduce risks and improve reliability.
What has transpired in California over the last few years has only further magnified how a lack of appropriate vegetation management can adversely impact electrical reliability as well as public safety or property damage above and beyond the lessons learned from the 2003 East Coast blackout.
Expensive light detection and ranging, new technology and software commonly are promoted by vendors. However, utilities can leverage less expensive ways to operate an IVM program using low-tech tools to effectively reduce inherent risks and meet compliance.
Western Area Power Administration shared its best management practices that have worked in its Desert Southwest region in a recent article in the T&D World June 2020 Vegetation Management supplement. Following are snapshots of the tools, process and landscape from "Low-Tech IVM Methods in the Desert."
See the article online for more information...