Power company announces next-gen technology to protect grid from growing threats: '[It's like] tens of thousands of microphones'

Energy customers in parts of Minnesota will soon have an interrogator on their side to help ensure power service is stable and reliable. 

It's not part of some sort of inquisition but rather a crucial feature of state-of-the-art tech developed by Prisma Photonics. It will be used to monitor Great River Energy's transmission lines, gauge threats to service, and quickly provide warnings when needed, according to a news release on the partnership. 

It could become an important safeguard against growing blackout threats — a risk increasing alongside conditions that enable severe weather. It's all made worse by our planet's overheating, as explained by NASA and other experts. In fact, Climate Central reported that there were 64% more "major power outages" from 2011 to 2021 compared with 2000 to 2010, with more devastating storms adding to the tally each year. 

"As we work to maintain reliable service for our member-owners throughout Minnesota's distinct seasons, we're leveraging innovative new technologies that maximize our existing infrastructure investments," Great River Energy Vice President Priti Patel said in the statement. The nonprofit provider serves 1.7 million people in Minnesota and Wisconsin. 

It's a multiyear project leveraging Prisma's PrismaCircuit and PrismaClimate technology, deployed on existing fiber-optic cables. The service area includes five "critical" transmission lines and four substations, per the release. 

It starts when an "optical interrogator" is connected to a fiber-optic line, shown in a Prisma digital rendering hanging above the power cables. 

"The Interrogator transmits optical pulses that propagate down the fiber. A minute fraction of the light is reflected from each point along the fiber. The Interrogator measures the reflected light to determine the strain, temperature, pressure, and other quantities," according to the company website. 

The creators liken the setup to "tens of thousands of microphones." The listeners turn the high-quality data over to computers that use machine learning and algorithms to determine threats, provide reliable alerts, and filter out false-positive and other needless alarms, the description added. 

The computer rendering shows the overhead fiber cable collecting data from the transmission line as fires erupt and storms pass through. The initial part of the partnership in Minnesota will cover 90 miles of lines, using Prisma's suite of technology, the officials added in the release. 

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"Our partnership … demonstrates how utilities can extract additional value from their existing infrastructure to enhance grid resilience while avoiding traditional sensor-based solutions' complexity and maintenance requirements," Prisma CEO Eran Inbar said. 

Other tech is already monitoring U.S. power lines. Norway-based Heimdall Power's "magic balls" are sphere-shaped sensors deployed on cables, also collecting data. They are geared to maximize capacity, possibly providing for more renewable energy use, Electrek reported. In fact, Great River is among the companies testing that innovation too. 

If operating simultaneously, the state's power grid could interestingly be aided by so-called magic balls and interrogators from Norway and Israel, where Prisma is based. 

But you don't have to be all that high-tech to make a powerful impact. Simply unplugging the unused devices and chargers in your home each day can save energy, reduce pollution, and cut your power bill by around $165 annually. 

Better, safer power lines can help the electricity arrive more efficiently.  

"As the world grapples with increasing extreme weather events, innovative power utilities like Great River Energy are working to adapt by hardening and modernizing grid assets to ensure safe, continued service for customers," Inbar said in the release. 

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