Xcel Energy hopes AI will help stop wildfires

Xcel Energy Colorado, which expects to spend about $180 million on wildfire prevention this year, is adding artificial intelligence to its arsenal to fight what has become a year-round battle.

Xcel is expanding its work with Pano AI, a San Francisco-based company that will install 21 camera systems by the end of the year on more than 1.5 million acres across the utility’s territory. The objective is to quickly alert Xcel and first responders when smoke is detected.

Pano uses artificial intelligence, or AI, to interpret images from its high-definition cameras that capture 360-degree views, adding data from satellite feeds and other sources to assess the weather and conditions on the ground. The company staffs a center 24/7 where people review information.

“By the end of 2023 we will have installed 21 cameras across the state, both on the Front Range and the Western Slope,” Xcel Energy

Colorado President Robert Kenney said Tuesday.

“We understand that wildfires in particular pose a significant and evolving risk to our customers and our communities. Climate conditions continue to change rapidly throughout the western United States,” Kenney added.

Facing larger and more catastrophic wildfires driven by warmer temperatures and drier weather, firefighting agencies and governments around the world are looking to AI to help squelch fires early and reduce fire risks. Pano AI is working with local agencies in western Colorado and has deployed its technology in seven other states as well as in Canada and Australia.

Xcel is expanding its pilot project with Pano that started in Boulder. The two made the announcement at an Arvada Fire Protection District station.

Pano works with fire agencies in areas where its technology is in use, said Arvind Satyam, the company’s co-founder and chief commercial officer.

“It’s a real new tool for us. We’ve been working with Pano for just a few weeks now, but one thing we’re really making strides on is connecting to our dispatch center,” said Steven Parker, fire marshal for the Arvada agency.

The site of the news conference, a suburban fire station, underscored that wildfire threats

HELEN H. RICHARDSON - THE DENVER POST Homes are engulfed in flames on December 30, 2021in Louisville during the Marshall Fire.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY XCEL ENERGY COLORADO Xcel Energy is expanding its partnership with Pano AI, a San Francisco-based company, to install 21camera systems across its territory in Colorado as part of its wildfire mitigation program. Pano’s system uses images, artificial intelligence and data from other sources, such as satellites, to detect fires quickly and asses conditions.