Hawaii's power company deploys special drones to hunt wildfire-causing power line faults.

Hawaiian Electric, the state's largest utility, has partnered with UK-based drone inspection company Cyberhawk to proactively scan its transmission lines across multiple islands. Facing increased wildfire risks from unusual atmospheric conditions, the company is using high-resolution aerial drones to find damaged equipment and potential ignition sources before they can spark a blaze.

The drones, specifically Skydio X10 models equipped with powerful VT300Z sensor packages, can capture 48-megapixel imagery and zoom up to 16 times losslessly. This allows inspectors on the ground to spot minute cracks, corrosion, or wear on electrical infrastructure from a safe distance. This proactive inspection method aims to prevent catastrophic wildfires by identifying and fixing faults before they cause a disaster, representing a shift from reactive to predictive maintenance for critical utilities.