2027 Event Agenda

As electric utilities face increasing pressure to improve grid reliability, reduce operational costs, and mitigate wildfire risk, traditional inspection programs are being challenged by the scale and complexity of modern distribution networks. Idaho Power, serving more than 660,000 customers across a large and diverse service territory, partnered with eSmart Systems to evaluate how to inspect their asset base efficiently. The challenge: managing wildfire exposure, improving reliability, and moving beyond manual methods to data-driven decision-making - all at once, and at scale.

This session will present findings from that program which began with most at risk distribution feeders, including detection accuracy across asset types, workflow integration with existing GIS and operations systems, and how the data delivers value well beyond the inspection itself.

Attendees will also hear how Idaho Power is approaching wildfire risk scoring as part of its inspection program, using AI-generated condition data to prioritize assets in high fire-risk zones and support its broader grid resiliency strategy.

This session offers a practical blueprint for utilities evaluating AI inspection at scale: how to start small, prove value quickly, and build the internal alignment across operations, finance, and regulatory teams needed to grow a program enterprise-wide.

Key Takeaways:

• Wildfire risk management and grid reliability should not be treated as separate programs - AI inspection data is the connective tissue
• AI inspection delivers value far beyond defect detection - how condition data captured at scale becomes a strategic asset.
• Starting small is a strategy, not a limitation - a focused pilot with clear success metrics is the fastest path to enterprise-wide adoption and stakeholder buy-in.