The Utility Vegetation Management Podcast

In this episode of The UVM Podcast, hosts Steve and Nick are joined by guest Madelyn Anderson, Senior Policy Officer of the Powerline Bushfire Safety Program at the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action in Victoria, Australia. The conversation covers a range of topics related to UVM, risk reduction, and powerline-related wildfires in the State of Victoria.

Madelyn introduces herself and discusses her involvement with policy design after significant bushfire events in Australia. She highlights the increasing consequences of bushfires due to population expansion in high-risk areas and the impact of climate change on fire frequency and severity.

They delve into Victoria's history of bushfires, including events like Black Saturday, and the impact of powerlines on ignitions. Madelyn describes the lessons learned from past wildfires and how they have influenced current practices and policies in Utility Vegetation Management.

The discussion explores various strategies employed by the government to address vegetation management and minimize the risk of powerline-related wildfires. Madelyn details initiatives such as the Powerline Bushfire Safety Taskforce and advancements in technology for risk reduction.

Madelyn explains the challenges of managing vegetation near powerlines while respecting Victoria's unique flora, fauna, and cultural heritage. They also discuss community engagement and public awareness efforts to educate residents about powerline safety and the importance of vegetation management.

The success of the Powerline Bushfire Safety Program is highlighted, with significant reductions in ignition risk achieved through capital programs. 

Throughout the episode, the hosts and guest provide insights into the complexities of managing powerline-related wildfire risks and share valuable information about Victoria's approach to Utility Vegetation Management.

The episode is split in two, of which this is part 1

Many thanks to this episode's sponsor, LiveEO (www.live-eo.com).

** CEUs --> visit the UAA Website to complete the questionnaire and receive your CEUs from ISA here

In this podcast interview, Nick and Steve, hosts of The UVM Podcast, interview Dan Gent, Director of Transmission and Reliability at Electricity Canada, a national forum and voice of the evolving and innovative electricity business in Canada. Dan explains his background and role at Electricity Canada, working within a trade association to represent its members to broader stakeholder groups such as the federal government and other regulatory organizations. He discusses the importance of transmission reliability and how it has been his area of focus for over a decade. Dan also highlights the challenges for transmission reliability across Canada, particularly extreme weather events such as ice storms. The discussion also touches on vegetation management, where Dan explains that as an association, they collect data on tree-related outages and provide that to their members. They also conducted a benchmarking study on vegetation management and found that trees account for 19% of customer interruptions and over 33% of the duration of an outage. Dan also shares insights on the Wildfire Mitigation Guide, a recommendation for what to do to prevent wildfires, from ATV spark plugs to vegetation management practices. The guide was a collective effort from utilities, and Dan explains how it's a living document that is reviewed every 3-5 years with experts to ensure it is still relevant with wildfire prevention technologies and tactics.

A big thank you to this episode's sponsor, LiveEO. 

We hope that you find this episode of The UVM Podcast insightful. If you have any feedback on the episode or suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact at [email protected].

**CEUs are available on the UAA website here**

In the aftermath of the 2003 tree related blackouts, North America and Europe responded differently to the issue of regulating their electricity grids. North America adopted a highly regulated approach with clear standards and enforcement mechanisms, resulting in fewer large-scale blackouts. Meanwhile, Europe struggled with a lack of centralized regulation and cross-border enforcement mechanisms, leading to disparities in UVM programs, but greater flexibility in adopting new, greener technologies to address climate change.

Overall, the lessons learned from the 2003 blackouts have highlighted the importance of clear regulation, independent and reliable regulatory agencies, and adaptability in the face of climate change. As we continue to face these challenges, it is crucial that we not lose sight of the need to ensure a reliable and efficient power grid for all, on both sides of the pond.

In this fascinating episode, Nick and Steve discuss the work of Tulane Law School student Lex Kumar in her retrospective  analysis  of the North American and European Blackouts of 2003. Lex discusses the similarities of each event and how the governments responded to these historic tree related blackouts. Lex can be contact at [email protected].

We hope that you find this episode of The UVM Podcast insightful. If you have any feedback on the episode or suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact at [email protected].

A big thank you to this episode’s sponsor, LiveEO (www.live-eo.com).

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into Utility Vegetation Management (UVM) is revolutionizing the way we manage vegetation around power lines, and the benefits are nothing short of impressive. AI is capable of processing and analyzing vast amounts of data collected from advanced remote sensing technologies like drones, LiDAR, and satellites. This analysis helps to identify potential vegetation risks and prioritize areas that require immediate attention, allowing utility companies to proactively mitigate the risk of outages and fires. This episode explores this emerging technology, providing insights on the many ways it is transforming UVM and improving the overall safety and reliability of our power grids.

 In this fascinating episode, Nick and Steve dive deep into the world of AI with ChatGPT, DALL-E, and MidJourney - accessible AI engines that are transforming industries. Listeners will gain valuable insights into a wide range of AI/UVM related topics, including the Turing Test, the potential of AI in UVM, and the threats and benefits of AI. The interview is full of surprises, with Nick and Steve challenging AI to create UVM artwork based purely on a few descriptive sentences in common English. The results are both stunning and eye-opening.

 If you are interested in learning more about how AI is transforming UVM and society at large, this episode is a must-listen. It provides a unique opportunity to learn about a cutting-edge technology that is revolutionizing the way we manage vegetation around power lines, making our power grids safer, and more reliable.

We hope that you find this episode of The UVM Podcast insightful. If you have any feedback on the episode or suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact at [email protected]. A big thank you to this episode's sponsor, LiveEO.

**CEUs Available ** Visit the UAA website and click on quizzes or click this link. https://member.gotouaa.org/surveys/?id=AI_to_VM

In this episode we discuss the “the demarcation issue” with Larry Kahn, the Distinguished Research Fellow at Tulane Law School’s UVMI. This is the second episode, in a planned series of discussions with Larry, where we hope to raise issues worthy of consideration and debate in the UVM industry. 

During this episode Larry, Steve and Nick explain and discuss the demarcation issue and present ideas to reduce outages, fires and accidents. As with the Rule of 70 episode, this is an important to the UVM industry.

We hope that you find this episode of The UVM Podcast insightful. If you have any feedback on the episode or suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact at [email protected].

A note to listeners: this episode was recorded in early August. Senate Bill 396 in California was quashed in late August. We decided to run the episode anyway on the basis that we feel Demarcation is an important topic and SB 396 is a useful case study.

**CEUs Available ** Visit the UAA website and click on quizzes or click this link. https://member.gotouaa.org/surveys/?id=Demarcation_Podcast 

What is the cradle to grave asset lifecycle, and how do different forms of remote sensing come into play? Is satellite the ‘silver bullet’ of the remote sensing world that will entirely replace LiDAR or is the picture more nuanced than that? 

Steve and Nick are joined by Subject Matter Experts from LiveEO (Tony Palizzi), NV5 Geospatial (Jacob Hall) and Planet (Paulina Zubatov) to unpack the asset life cycle and examine, through a remote sensing lens, how geospatial technology can support each stage.

The NPR Podcast with Planet's founders that was mentioned during this recording can be found here. The NPR episode doesn't cover vegetation management but does provide interesting further context on the drivers of the NewSpace revolution.

We hope that you find this episode of The UVM Podcast insightful. If you have any feedback on the episode or suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact at [email protected].

In this episode we discuss the “Rule of 70” with Larry Kahn, the Distinguished Research Fellow at Tulane Law School’s UVMI. This is the first episode, in a planned series of discussions with Larry, where we hope to raise issues worthy of consideration and debate in the UVM industry. 

During this episode Larry, Steve and Nick explain what the Rule of 70s is and why it may be one of the most important metrics a Utility Arborist needs to track. 

We hope that you find this episode of The UVM Podcast insightful. If you have any feedback on the episode or suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact at [email protected].

In this episode (and at the suggestion of one of our subscribers- thanks Eric Owens at CNUC!) we interview Lewis Payne from the New York Power Authority (NYPA), the largest state-owned utility in the United States. Lewis (Lew) Payne is the Manager ROW/Environmental and a well-respected 30+ year veteran in the Transmission UVM industry. 

During this thoughtful discussion, Lew discusses his work on a variety of topics ranging from pollinator habitat and IVM, to the way the transmission industry was influenced by the August 14, 2003 Northeast Blackout.

We hope that you find this episode of The UVM Podcast insightful. If you have any feedback on the episode or suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact at [email protected].

A big thank you to this episode's sponsor, LiveEO.

**CEUs Available ** Visit the UAA website and click on quizzes or click this link. https://member.gotouaa.org/surveys/?id=UVM_Ep_19

In this episode we interview Eliecer Viamontes, the recently appointed President and CEO of Entergy Texas. Entergy serves about 3 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas and they are no strangers to Utility Vegetation Management or the implications of tree and power line conflicts. 

During this inspiring discussion Eliecer not only outlines current priorities and accomplishments of Entergy Texas, he talks about his own background and experiences in running UVM programs. You heard that right, he is a utility company CEO that actually understands UVM and recognizes the value of our collective work. For those of us new to the UVM profession, Eliecer provides some great career advice. For those of us that are longer in the tooth, it’s about time that we moved an experienced UVM person into the C suite.

We hope that you find this episode of The UVM Podcast valuable and insightful. If you have any feedback on the episode or suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact at [email protected].

In this episode we interview Steve Martin from Powerlink Queensland. Steve is the Senior Strategist for Land, Research and Development for Powerlink and works out of the greater Brisbane area of Australia.  

During this lively down-under discussion, Steve and the podcast hosts discuss a wide array of issues ranging from animal grazing on transmission ROWs to managing our UVM workloads as an asset - not a liability. It is also another episode where “the tyranny of distance” plays a role in UVM and bushfire mitigation (note: you can listen to earlier episodes with our other Australian guests if you don’t understand the reference – it’s a term that would apply to all large IOU UVM programs). 

During the conversation, Nick mentioned an article he wrote on harnessing the best elements of LIDAR (as-built surveys for ratings confirmation) with the best of satellite technology (monitoring vegetation to inform clearances, health and species). The article can be found here.

We hope that you find this episode of The UVM Podcast insightful and entertaining. If you have any feedback on the episode or suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes, please feel free to get in contact at [email protected].

A big thank you to this episode's sponsor, LiveEO.