Digital Digest: Monthly Digest of Insights Shared by Your Peers in the Energy Central Intelligent Utility Network – February 18, 2022

Welcome to the Intelligent Utility Network roundup, Digital Digest. As always, your fellow network members are paying close attention to digital utility and mobile workforce trends and sharing their insights. This month’s selection includes information about infrastructure cybersecurity, the importance of location in utility operations, and more. Be sure to like and comment on your favorite posts. Happy reading!

Identifying Wetlands Using AI and Deep Learning

Becca Madsen

Link to original article: https://energycentral.com/o/EPRI/identifying-wetlands-using-ai-and-deep-learning

To protect threatened and endangered species, information about wetlands is used during the planning and siting phases of infrastructure projects. In this article, New Energy Central member Becca Madsen, Environmental Analyst at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) describes the Ecosystem Risk and Resiliency program launched by EPRI with help from the Chesapeake Conservatory, designed to improve and refine wetland identification. The program uses AI, deep learning models, satellite photo imagery, and LIDAR to improve the accuracy of wetland information. Pilot results have been promising.

4 Methods of Meeting Energy Demands in 2022 and Beyond

Robert Schultz

Link to original article: https://energycentral.com/o/locusview/4-methods-meeting-energy-demands-2022-and-beyond

In this post, Robert Schultz, Electric Utility Industry Specialist at Locusview notes that, in the U.S., the aging electric grid may be unable to address future energy demands. He predicts that, in 2022, energy leaders will focus on four key initiatives to ensure the grid is equipped to meet these rapidly changing needs: upgrading utility T&D systems, increasing applications of solar and wind farms, ensuring fair utility operating costs, and reducing the costs and time of energy system upgrades. This item is part of the Power Industry 2022 Trends & Predictions special issue.

Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Trends to Watch in 2022

Dennis Lanahan

Link to original article: https://energycentral.com/o/owl-cyber-defense/critical-infrastructure-cybersecurity-trends-watch-2022

Threat actors continue to find new ways to disrupt the electrical grid. That’s why the power industry must continue to strengthen its cyber defenses and improve resilience. In this piece, new Energy Central member Dennis Lanahan, Vice President for Commercial Markets at Owl Cyber Defense predicts how it will happen in the coming year. He sees a focus in three critical areas: continued Log4j fallout, secure cloud connectivity to monitor asset performance, and asset health. This item is part of the Power Industry 2022 Trends & Predictions special issue.

Line Up Alphabetically by Height

Bill Meehan

Link to original article: https://energycentral.com/o/esri/line-alphabetically-height

Location is a critical part of work processes and, therefore, critical to include in automated work management. Here, Bill Meehan, Director, Utility Solutions at Esri explains the importance of location and how it can improve operations. For example, one utility found that by recalculating task assignments for a meter testing group according to location, it reduced travel time by 60%, offering the potential to greatly reduce fuel and labor costs.

Thanks again for reading this edition of Digital Digest! The authors listed above are eager to hear your thoughts and questions, so don’t hesitate to engage them. And if you want your content to be featured in this spot in future issues, be sure to publish your posts within the Digital Utility or Mobile Workforce Community.

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