In an effort to aid crews in identifying hazardous vegetation growth in a sometimes heavily forested service territory, the Eugene Water and Electric Board is utilizing a new satellite-based forestry analytics software called Overstory, the Oregon public power utility recently reported.
EWEB maintains over 1,300 miles of overhead transmission and distribution lines.
The first year's analysis (conducted in the fall of 2023) focused on areas with denser tree coverage, like south Eugene and McKenzie River service areas.
The satellite imagery captures overhead power lines with nearby tree canopies and uses technology to quickly identify areas that could benefit from additional vegetation management.
It also creates a heat map of places with high tree mortality -- these 'hazard' trees are more likely to fall into powerlines during severe weather.
"The goal is to efficiently target tree-trimming in areas of highest risk and develop an action plan to address hazard trees that pose a fall-in risk to our overhead lines. It's especially helpful for terrain that's hard to access for visual inspection,” said EWEB Resiliency Program Manager Jeannine Parisi.
In May, the Overstory team joined EWEB's vegetation crew in the field to review the first-year data analysis. In the field, the team easily located some of the riskiest areas, EWEB reported.
"By looking at our risk matrix, utilities can identify the amount of vegetation nearby, both horizontally and vertically, to conductors, which helps us accurately project vegetation-related outages," said Morse.
In 2023, Overstory satellite imaging analyzed vegetation across 180 “line miles” and found that EWEB's current vegetation management practices are very effective at maintaining clearance, with just a few areas that might need additional trimming work.
"We just captured new satellite imagery to update the analysis, particularly given the amount of tree damage from the ice storm," said Parisi.
Overstory will analyze about 425 “line miles” of EWEB's electric system this year.
