Why utility vegetation management needs a new playbook
About this episode
The episode discusses the need for a new approach to utility vegetation management to enhance grid safety and reliability.
Vegetation management is often treated like routine maintenance, but for utilities it is really about keeping the grid safe under real operating conditions. And on the modern grid, clearance planning has become more complex than ever, while utilities can no longer rely on “blue sky” assumptions when assessing vegetation risk. To dive deeper into the topic, host Kinsey Grant Baker is joined by Otto Lynch of Bentley Systems to discuss how myriad factors impact the engineering realities of keeping the grid constantly operational. Including considerations like conductor sag, high operating temperatures, wind blowout, ice, and structure deflection all change the real distance between a line and nearby vegetation. Too often, utilities underestimate risk and simply clearing an entire right-of-way is not always the smartest or safest answer. Instead, Otto makes the case for more selective, engineering-driven vegetation management that balances reliability, cost, and public trust. The episode also takes a close look at compliance and standards, including what can go wrong when utilities ignore the finer details of wire movement, altitude, or “determined by designer” language in the rules…
Sponsors
Bentley Systems
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