Spring and summer bring increasingly volatile weather. Utility Operations & Maintenance (O&M) teams face escalating demands to ensure grid stability under unpredictable conditions. High winds, heavy rain, lightning strikes, and extreme heat events all test the resilience of substation infrastructure, and by extension, the response strategies of those who maintain it.
For utilities, the risks are both operational and strategic. Storm-driven failures can cause equipment damage, prolonged outages, and significant safety hazards. But beyond the immediate aftermath, each event exposes limitations in inspection schedules, data visibility, and response coordination. Utilities are responding by expanding their approach, incorporating continuous remote monitoring to better manage risk, guide maintenance priorities, and improve situational awareness.
The Operational Challenge of Extreme Weather
Spring and summer weather events stress the electrical infrastructure in different ways. Storms may cause flash flooding, conductor galloping (high-altitude or remote transmission routes, e.g., through mountain passes or valleys, may still see sub-zero conditions in spring, even if urban centers are experiencing warmer weather) or surge-related damage, while prolonged heat can accelerate the degradation of insulating materials, compromise cooling systems, or create overload conditions.
Historically, utilities have relied on time-based physical inspections to catch these risks. But with growing asset complexity, labor shortages, and rising outage consequences, the limitations of that approach are becoming more evident. Technicians must be on-site at the right moment to detect many issues, an increasingly rare and impractical expectation.
This isn’t just a matter of technology. It’s a systems-level issue that intersects with workforce planning, resource allocation, and long-term asset strategy. Which is why utilities are beginning to integrate remote sensing and automated diagnostics—not as replacements, but as essential complements to traditional maintenance protocols.
Using Real-Time Monitoring to Improve Everyday Maintenance
Remote monitoring systems using visual and thermal sensors provide real-time information about the condition of substation assets, enabling operators to make faster, more accurate decisions. These tools can detect thermal anomalies, mechanical misalignments, or unexpected environmental impacts.
What makes this particularly relevant for storm-season readiness is the ability to maintain visibility when physical access is limited or unsafe. Continuous monitoring also enables utilities to build historical data trends, analyze performance over time, and refine maintenance strategies based on actual asset behavior, not just theoretical lifespans or fixed schedules.
This shift doesn’t happen all at once. It involves thoughtful planning, coordination across departments, and training to ensure insights translate into operational value. But the benefits are tangible, and increasingly, necessary.
Benefits for O&M Professionals
Remote monitoring doesn’t just offer technical advantages, it fundamentally redefines what’s possible for utility Operations & Maintenance teams facing increasingly complex demands.
Introducing new systems, workflows, or technologies isn’t always straightforward. Utilities must balance regulatory pressures, workforce constraints, and operational realities. But when done strategically, these solutions enable measurable improvements that directly support grid reliability, asset longevity, and workforce safety.
Reduced truck rolls:
One of the most immediate and practical benefits of remote monitoring is the ability to significantly reduce unnecessary site visits. Visual and thermal data captured in real time allow operators to assess the situation without dispatching a crew. This is particularly valuable in remote or difficult-to-access substations, where a simple inspection could otherwise consume hours of travel and coordination. Not every trip can, or should be avoided, but when routine checks can be replaced with remote assessments, it frees up technical staff for more critical, hands-on work. Over time, this not only lowers operational costs but also reduces wear on fleet vehicles and decreases emissions from travel, contributing to both financial and environmental objectives.
Faster fault isolation:
When faults occur, response time is everything, but accuracy is just as important. With real-time thermal and visual data, operators can identify the specific asset or component exhibiting abnormal conditions, such as overheating or misalignment. Instead of relying on a general alert or field reports from initial inspections, O&M teams can pinpoint the issue and determine the most appropriate response before leaving the control room. This accelerates repair cycles and reduces the risk of replacing the wrong component or missing underlying conditions. It’s a strategic shift, from reactive guesswork to evidence-based action, and while that shift takes planning, it pays off in reduced downtime and more confident decision-making.
Safer working conditions:
With remote monitoring, field crews are no longer walking into the unknown. Operators can review high-resolution visuals and thermal readings before deploying personnel, ensuring crews are informed about equipment status, environmental hazards, or intrusion incidents. This helps crews plan their approach, bring the right gear, and reduce time spent in potentially dangerous zones. It’s not about eliminating risk entirely, but about managing it more intelligently, giving teams the situational awareness they need to work safely and efficiently.
Condition-Based Maintenance:
The transition from time-based to condition-based maintenance is a journey. It is one that many utilities are beginning to prioritize, especially as resources become constrained and reliability expectations increase. With continuous monitoring, maintenance schedules can be guided by actual asset health, rather than fixed calendars. This allows utilities to reallocate labor and parts to where they’re truly needed, reducing unplanned outages and extending the lifespan of critical equipment.
Event analysis and response validation:
Storms and other extreme events demand a rapid response, but the lessons often come afterward. Remote monitoring systems continuously record and archive data, allowing utilities to reconstruct the conditions leading up to an incident. This is essential not only for root cause analysis but also for validating the timing and effectiveness of operational responses. Teams can assess what worked, what didn’t, and how procedures can be improved for the future. In a regulatory environment that increasingly demands accountability and transparency, having objective, time-stamped data is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. And when these insights are integrated into broader asset performance and risk management strategies, they become a foundation for continuous improvement.
An Evolving Strategy for an Evolving Grid
Seasonal preparedness is no longer a checklist activity, it’s an ongoing, adaptive process. The reality for today’s utilities is that extreme weather patterns are becoming more frequent and less predictable. And as the grid becomes more decentralized and complex, the margin for error continues to narrow.
In this environment, remote monitoring offers more than a set of tools, it provides a framework for smarter maintenance, safer operations, and faster recovery. Implementation may require upfront coordination and investment, but the long-term value lies in building a more agile, informed, and resilient utility.
For Operations & Maintenance professionals, the path forward isn’t about chasing innovation for its own sake, it’s about making practical decisions that increase reliability, reduce risk, and ultimately ensure the grid is ready for whatever comes next.