CATALYST Unveils INSIGHTS Vegetation Management to Strengthen Utility Grid Reliability

CATALYST Unveils INSIGHTS Vegetation Management to Strengthen Utility Grid Reliability
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 06, 2025

CATALYST is transforming how Electric Utilities tackle one of their most pressing operational challenges with the introduction of INSIGHTS Vegetation Management. This satellite-based monitoring service enhances grid reliability by pinpointing areas where vegetation poses the greatest risk, helping to prevent outages and infrastructure damage.

Vegetation encroachment is a leading cause of power disruptions and can contribute to infrastructure failures and wildfires. As extreme weather events become more common, Utilities must navigate increasing difficulties in maintaining grid stability. Managing vegetation incurs substantial costs, with major U.S. Utilities spending over $100 million annually. However, traditional approaches lack efficiency-without real-time data on vegetation growth, routine inspections and maintenance follow fixed schedules rather than targeting high-risk zones.

A Data-Driven Approach to Vegetation Risk

INSIGHTS Vegetation Management replaces rigid maintenance cycles with a condition-based strategy, leveraging regular network-wide intelligence to direct arborists toward areas where intervention is most needed. This targeted approach optimizes inspection and pruning efforts, ensuring resources are used effectively. Additionally, INSIGHTS provides post-maintenance verification, assessing the effectiveness of completed vegetation management efforts. It also plays a critical role in evaluating vegetation damage after extreme weather events.

"INSIGHTS Vegetation Management extends CATALYST's portfolio of risk monitoring solutions, providing Utilities with vital intelligence to enhance resilience and operational efficiency," stated June McAlarey, President and CEO of PCI Geomatics. "By utilizing advanced satellite technology, Utilities can proactively manage vegetation threats, minimizing outages and delivering safer, more reliable service to their customers."

INSIGHTS employs high-resolution satellite imagery combined with Utility and environmental data to assess tree risks and quantify potential threats. Unlike opaque AI models, INSIGHTS provides transparent, science-based risk evaluations that can be customized to meet the specific needs of Utilities.

As a data-as-a-service (DaaS) solution, INSIGHTS seamlessly integrates with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platforms, and field management tools, offering Utilities accessible and actionable intelligence. Developed using CATALYST's expertise in Earth observation analytics and an advanced suite of processing algorithms, INSIGHTS Vegetation Management ensures precise and reliable risk assessments tailored to Utility operations.

INSIGHTS Vegetation Management now joins CATALYST's comprehensive suite of wide-area monitoring solutions, including INSIGHTS Ground Displacement Monitoring, change detection, and terrain modeling.