Michigan’s largest energy provider, Consumers Energy, has expanded its use of drone technology across the electric grid by doubling its fleet in the past two years. The company is using drones over 400 miles of power lines to discover potential issues before they become problems. The company inspects over 4,000 miles of power lines with conventional methods, but 400 miles are difficult to inspect due to inaccessible or protect terrain.

The company is employing a growing fleet of 40 drones and 40 licensed pilots. These are supplementing helicopter crews and pedestrian teams.

Equipped with high-resolution cameras and thermal imaging, drones provide a bird’s-eye view of poles and equipment — capturing photos and video that help team members identify damage or deterioration.

The drones are used particularly to explore around 10% of Michigan’s power lines that are inaccessible to conventional inspection methods due to thick brush, protected airspace or challenging geography in urban areas. This not only supports regular maintenance but also helps pinpoint areas that may need tree trimming to protect nearby lines.

The benefits also expand from everyday work into storm recovery. After severe weather like the March ice storm in Northern Michigan, drones were deployed in areas that were unsafe to walk in and inaccessible by vehicle. Drones provided critical visibility to speed up a safe restoration by delivering real-time images of damaged infrastructure and confirming that power lines were clear of damage prior to being re-energised.

“This is no longer experimental — drones are a vital tool in how we inspect and maintain the grid,” said Benjamin Strandskov, who leads Consumers Energy’s drone programme. “They give us a faster, safer way to see what’s happening in places we couldn’t easily reach before.”

“Reliability is at the core of everything we do,” said Greg Salisbury, SVP & president of electric distribution at Consumers Energy. “Drones allow us to spot and fix problems before they impact customers, and to respond faster and more safely when outages do occur.”