As we know living in upstate New York, power outages can happen in an instant. Whether it be winter storms or heavy winds, the job truly never stops for NYSEG and RG&E. Now, parent company Avangrid is turning to the future to improve reliability statewide.

An in-house artificial intelligence system could soon be that answer.

"We're really taking a lot of different data right when it comes to things like weather data, asset data such as its age or condition. All three of these platforms are really looking at data that we as a utility currently have and maximizing its value when it comes to improving reliability for our customers,” said Mark Waclawiak, senior manager of operational performance, Avangrid.

His team is helping develop a system that will use AI in part, to better learn how certain poles or communities are affected. This will change how the company approaches grid investments and storm forecasting.

"That's really taking, you know, the data related to our equipment in the field and using it to better understand what our expected lifespan is. So that as a utility, when we invest in the renewal of our infrastructure and the replacement of our equipment, we're really taking a data driven approach to be proactive," said Waclawiak.

AI will soon be able to analyze future performance of the grid for the more than 2 million customers statewide. Health analytics will also track life expectancy of each pole, based on a number of factors. Every power line is now entered into a system by local workers, looking at everything from age and tree cover to weather and usage.

"We really do have a team of really brilliant and talented scientists, engineers and analysts that are pushing the boundaries of technology in order to really drive benefit for our customers," he said.

There are thousands of poles out there stretching hundreds of miles. Many of our communities in upstate are in more rural areas where trees are surrounding those poles.

So, how can AI really help in a situation like this?

"We have a very unique kind of topographical system in upstate New York. There's a lot of challenges in terms of both the infrastructure as well as the level of vegetation. If we have specific challenges, A.I. is there to help us solve it for all of our customers,” said Waclawiak.

Avangrid’s Artificial intelligence system is already beginning to be rolled out. All three systems will officially be released in the next couple of years.