GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Infrared cameras helped avoid nearly 20 million minutes of power outages last year, according to Consumers Energy.
The utility company said the cameras are used to detect outages or problems that need to be repaired that cannot be seen with the naked eye. This allows the issues to be corrected before the public is affected.
The handheld cameras also help workers find hotspots that could lead to outages in the future, and repair them before an outage actually occurs.
This is part of Consumers Energy's Reliability Roadmap, which outlines how the company plans to cut back on outages and get power back on sooner.
“Consumers Energy is working to reduce the number of power outages and make sure we always get the lights back on in 24 hours. Infrared cameras are a great example of how technology helps us every day to find and fix problems,” said Greg Salisbury, Consumers Energy’s vice president of electric distribution engineering.
Officials say the efforts with the infrared cameras reduced outage times by about 10 minutes last year.
Other efforts in the Reliability Roadmap that focus on preventing power outages include clearing branches from power lines, replacing power poles with durable iron and burying power lines.
“We’re all about getting results through the infrared program so we can quickly address whatever issues there may be at the substation,” said Kurtiss “Scott” Koons, a program analyst. “Taking this proactive approach to handle the little things prevents the bigger things from happening.”
You can learn more about Consumers Energy's Reliability Roadmap here.
