PG&E demonstrates new drone for inspections

If Auburn and Placer County residents see a drone flying over their properties this year, there is a good reason. PG&E has a new drone that will be used to inspect its properties, including power lines and safety concerns. PG&E held a live drone demonstration for the media on Friday at the Rock Creek Dam Fishing Access. The DJI Matrice 350 features an all-new video transmission system and is controlled by a pilot who is contracted with PG&E. The drone's speed ranges from 35 to 40 miles per hour. Janet Henkai, a supervisor for aerial and specialized inspections for PG&E, said the drones usually go no higher than 50 feet above the tower/pole to capture the required shots of a structure. "Our drones do not travel fast, so I wouldn't say the speed capability of the drone is important," Henkai said. "Our drones are flying around our overhead electrical equipment to follow the standardized shot sheet requirements. They will do this at a slow speed to ensure safety and high-quality imagery." The drone launched at the fishing access and flew around the area for a few minutes as a demonstration. "This is kind of the way of the world, right?" said Lauren Mattson, a program manager for PG&E. "We're looking at new ideas, new ways of technology. … It's going to continue to grow." Daniel Toothman, who oversees the unmanned aircraft system for PG&E, talked about the use of the company's newest toy, saying, "PG&E uses this drone and another drone just like it, but smaller, every day on our distribution and transmission assets." Toothman said the drone looks for conditions of equipment owned by PG&E and looks at "vegetation issues." "Anything that looks out of place," Toothman said. The new drone, which came out May 18, 2023, is being used all over California, Toothman said. "We start in the high-risk areas, and we work our way down to the low risk," Toothman said. There are about 20 internal pilots working for PG&E that collect data from this particular drone, Toothman said. "We have seven more on an offshoot that does other missions with the drones," Toothman said. According to Henkai, there are 70 contracted pilots. To be a qualified PG&E drone pilot, a person needs to have a federal license through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). According to Henkai, there is no standard flight time requirement for pilots, but they must have their FAA Part 107 license that allows a pilot to operate a small, unmanned aircraft system. After being hired by PG&E, new pilots received "on-the-job training" with senior pilots and start recording their hours, according to Toothman. Toothman said the biggest concern is the pilot, public and drone safety. "Every location is different," Toothman said. "Our guys are working from a variety of terrain from the Sierras down to the coast." Before the drones start flying each day, the pilots contact dispatchers, who Toothman describes as their "air traffic control system." The dispatchers let the pilots know if there is any type of air traffic before the drone is launched. The pilots also do a job hazard assessment, which looks for things such as active bird nests and unidentified aircraft. The weather is also a factor when operating the drones, Toothman noted. "We tell these guys that they got to look up, start from the bottom and look up at 360 degrees and look for anything that can be very dynamic," Toothman said. "They can be head on a swivel." Mattson addressed privacy concerns the public might have regarding drones flying over people's properties in Auburn and Placer County. "We are not out there to go and take any imagery of their property or their house," Mattson said. "I know that could be a major concern. Our big thing is only looking at our assets to get an understanding of what's going on." Mattson feels comfortable with the drones doing their job in higher terrain areas such as Placer County. "I think for me, especially for somebody that lives in a high fire threat district, it really gives me peace of mind when I am able to go out and see us be able to do production and seeing that we are going, doing the new and futuristic things that maybe are not the norm," Mattson said. "It's such a cool program. (This is) a great way to be able to see our assets and look at the health of our assets and really understand how our infrastructure is doing."