How Infrared Cameras are Reducing Outages
Image courtesy of Clyde Robinson under Attribution 2.0 Generic Deed, resized to 700 x 391 pixels.
Consumers Energy has seen massive success utilizing handheld infrared cameras to proactively detect issues and anomalies within about 1,100 substations across Michigan. All told, the utility claims that these handheld infrared devices have saved approximately 333,000 hours’ worth of outages for its 2 million customers in Michigan (or, 10 minutes per customer per year). And that, my friends, is nothing to sneeze at!
How Consumers Energy is Using Infrared Cameras
Employees use the handheld infrared cameras to scan substation equipment during their normal course of work. The goal is to identify hotspots or other anomalies that are not visible to the naked eye, so they can be addressed before problems ensue.
Hotspots in particular are problematic and would not be detectable without the imaging technology. They are often caused by loosening or deteriorating connections, which heat up the components to the point where they become vulnerable to accelerated deterioration and electrical shorts. But with the infrared technology, repairs can be identified and made before any outages occur.
Overall, this tactic is part of the utility’s Reliability Roadmap, which encompasses other tactics such as the visual inspection of its 51,000-mile low-voltage distribution system, enhanced vegetation management practices, replacing wood poles with those made from iron, and undergrounding power lines, among other things.
Much of these efforts were developed after the utility was fined $1 million in May 2024 over faulty meters and service delays. Adding insult to injury, a recent audit concluded that Consumers Energy lags other electric utilities in terms of restoration times. Thus, the company was compelled to act.
Irrespective of the reason, Consumers Energy’s efforts to improve reliability and reduce outages is commendable. So much of what we do from an emergency preparedness perspective focuses on post-event recovery, but with these new infrared cameras and similar technologies, issues can actually be prevented before they happen. And that is worth its weight in gold!
