The Guide to Evaluating Vegetation Intelligence Technology
This is part one of a two-part series about evaluating and leveraging vegetation intelligence for utilities. Part one covers methods for assessing different vegetation intelligence technologies and how to determine the right partner. Part two walks through how you can execute a successful pilot program to ensure long-term success in real world scenarios.
In December 2024, a powerful windstorm struck British Columbia’s South Coast. It resulted in over 280,000 residents losing power in areas of Western Canada, primarily due to downed trees and branches interfering with power lines. Just a few months prior, Hurricane Helene swept through Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. The storm impacted a 400-mile area which caused widespread damage to trees and power poles, leaving over a million Georgians without power. It was the worst storm recorded in Georgia Power’s 140-year history. Utility infrastructure can be highly susceptible to extreme weather events. But more importantly, these incidents underscore the importance of proactive vegetation management to prevent large-scale disruptions in the future.
With the availability and integration of advanced tools like LiDAR, satellite imagery, and artificial intelligence, the vegetation intelligence space has evolved to meet changing vegetation risks. Vegetation intelligence can significantly improve reliability, optimize resources, and mitigate risks from storms and wildfires by delivering actionable insights.
Selecting the right technology and partner can feel daunting with the many solutions available and the change needed to put them to work. This guide will help your team navigate this process, choose the tools and partners to meet your objectives and build a more resilient grid.
Why vegetation intelligence matters
According to a 2021 survey of 65 United States-based utilities, 23.2% of distribution outages are caused by vegetation. Extreme weather events, including wildfires—now twice as frequent in the U.S. as two decades ago—are creating a strain on utilities. On the other hand, utility vegetation management (UVM) has become one of the most significant operational expenses, growing from 55% of overhead maintenance budgets in 2015 to 75% in 2020, with annual costs estimated at USD 7.6 billion. With rapidly changing weather trends, increased regulatory scrutiny, limited budgets, and labor availability, utility teams can’t depend solely on vegetation management cycles or historical knowledge they’ve used in the past.
For instance, in 2023, Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company (OG&E) used vegetation intelligence to identify critical spans ahead of a storm, significantly reducing their planning and response times and avoiding the worst outage effects.
Vegetation intelligence builds predictability into operations programs by codifying decision-making to ensure teams are prepared for every scenario, including increasingly extreme and unpredictable environmental challenges. It helps address those challenges using data to proactively manage vegetation risks, improve reliability, and demonstrate risk reduction with stakeholders.
What makes a vegetation intelligence solution stand out?
Though a wide variety of technologies is available to address key operational challenges, the right solution should meet three objectives. It should integrate seamlessly with your existing operations, support your long-term goals, and provide actionable insights.
Based on our conversations with electric transmission and distribution customers, we recommend assessing those capabilities using these criteria.
| Criteria | Description | Why it matters | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scalability | The ability to analyze entire transmission or distribution networks, regardless of size, cost-effectively | Ensures consistent risk analysis across large service areas, helping utilities manage vast territories efficiently. |
|
| Accuracy | Reliable, expert-validated data that pinpoint high-risk areas | Focuses resources on the most critical areas, minimizing unnecessary work and improving grid reliability |
|
| Actionability | Transforming raw data into practical, risk-based action | Provides clear, actionable insights such as grow-in/fall-in risks and tree-level data, enabling the team to plan and proactively execute effective maintenance |
|
| Integration | Seamlessly fits into existing workflows and systems (e.g., OMS, WOM) | Avoids disruptive overhauls by adapting to your processes and allowing flexible data exports to be used across existing platforms and systems |
|
| Proactive capabilities | Tools integrated into the solution that enable your team to predict and mitigate risks before they materialize | Shifts vegetation management from reactive to proactive, reducing emergency response costs and improving safety |
|
| Future-proofing | Adaptability to evolving regulatory, environmental and operational challenges | Quickly generate objective data outputs for different compliance needs. Codify decision-making and prioritize work based on risk reports. |
|
| Ongoing support and training | Comprehensive training programs and ongoing support to ensure successful partnership, implementation and use | Demonstrates understanding of importance of long-term partnership and time to onboard and integrate in workflow |
|
| Utility expertise | Specialized knowledge of utility operations, regulations and vegetation management challenges within their team | Experience with utilities ensures they understand your specific challenges and can provide proven solutions |
|
Work through a comprehensive evaluation with your team using the Checklist for Vetting Vegetation Intelligence Partners.
How to evaluate potential partners
While it’s true that the right vegetation intelligence solution can transform your operations, it is only as effective as the partner behind it. A strong technology provider is more than a vendor; it’s a partner invested in your long-term success.
Choose an adaptable, committed partner
Just as vegetation management challenges evolve with weather patterns, regulations, and operational needs, it is essential to choose a partner who can adapt with you.
What to look for in a long-term partner:
They are collaborative, tailoring their solutions to fit your unique needs instead of offering one approach
They’re committed to ongoing innovation, ensuring their technology not only remains effective as risks and regulations change but is also willing to admit what they do not currently know
They are able to provide clear details on their process, along with a breakdown of costs and any expected outcomes
Test the market
Don’t settle for the first solution that catches your eye or offers a promising solution to your immediate challenges. Testing the market ensures you make a well-informed decision and is an opportunity to uncover hidden strengths—or weaknesses—in potential partners. Here are some steps you can take for a successful market test:
Define your success criteria: Outline in detail what you need from a solution. Is it accuracy, scalability, or cost-effectiveness? Make these your non-negotiable benchmarks.
Request demos: Evaluate how each solution performs specific tasks, such as identifying high-risk circuits or integrating with your existing systems.
Run a pilot program: Use a small-scale pilot to test real-world performance. Compare results across providers to see which one aligns best with your objectives.
As Nick Day, a senior vegetation program manager at ComEd, explains, “no one tool will solve every problem, but finding the right combination of tools for your organization’s needs can help you address key challenges efficiently.”
Evaluate core capabilities
When comparing potential partners, focus on the most essential qualities for your utility’s success. Use the questions in the What Makes a Vegetation Intelligence Solution Stand Out section above as a guide.
What to avoid
Look out for vendors who may lack experience, overpromise, and limit your flexibility in integrating with existing workflows.
A provider with a limited background in the utility sector may struggle to understand the complexities of your operations. Similarly, look out for bold claims about features or outcomes without any supporting evidence. As a rule of thumb, ask for verified case studies, and measurable results and even speak with current customers. Lastly, avoid vendors that rely solely or predominantly on their proprietary systems and cannot integrate into your existing workflows. This may limit your options for growth in the future.
Does your partner share your vision?
A strong partner will share your vision for innovation and resilience. Are they focused on building systems that address the challenges you are experiencing today? Are they also interested in adapting to what you may need in the future?
For instance, you may initially work with a vegetation intelligence provider to address wildfire risks. Over time, they may expand their offering to include risk-based pruning verification and predictive analytics to create a solution to support your evolving needs, but you’ll want to ask questions about the product roadmap and how the provider’s solutions may evolve with time.
Testing real-world capability
Choosing the right vegetation intelligence technology and partner is a crucial first step to transforming and supporting your utilities operations. But selecting the right technology is just the beginning. Once you’ve identified the right tools and partners for your organization, it is time to test their real world performance through an effective pilot program.
The second part of this series walks through how to effectively design, execute and evaluate a pilot program that is set up for success in the long haul.
