Austin Energy Steps Up Wildfire Prevention with Vision AI

Utility fires have become an increasing threat in the US. To face this threat, Austin Energy’s wildfire strategy includes vegetation management, infrastructure improvements, and, as of this year, a vision AI early fire detection system. The utility deployed from March to August of 2024, 26 AI-enabled cameras by PanoAI in 13 stations to detect fires in their first stages.

In this video we talk to Christopher Vetromile, Austin Energy’s first Wildfire Mitigation Manager, and Andrew Prolov, Head of Australia GTM at Pano AI, about the AI-enabled camera project, what it is, how it works, why they deployed it and what the return on investment is like for utilities.