Dominion Energy Virginia and data platform provider PingThings are harnessing artificial intelligence and sensor data from across the grid to identify failing equipment and anticipate widespread outages before they happen.

They are achieving this through an initiative: Technology Acceleration Alliance. PingThings is based in California but is establishing an office in Richmond in connection with this partnership. 

Utilities have increasingly sophisticated sensors producing vast amounts of data. But the technology needed to store, organize, and analyze all that data has not kept pace, limiting what utilities can do with it. This confines them to a reactive approach – only investigating when something fails.

Dominion Energy and PingThings are removing that barrier. PingThings has developed a data platform that can capture and analyze sensor data, from measurements taken every millisecond to years of history, giving engineers and AI new ways to proactively detect emerging issues and flag anomalies on the grid.

The platform is currently managing about 5 petabytes, or 5 million gigabytes, of sensor data from across the grid, including data from transmission lines, substations, transformers, and other equipment. That volume is expected to more than double in the next few years.    

Dominion Energy and PingThings have worked together since 2019, creating a sevenyear head start in the use of high-volume grid data. That work has built upon years of data and operational experience in a real-world utility environment. The Technology Acceleration Alliance advances that partnership to help define this emerging technology category for the electric utility industry. 

Dominion Energy’s grid in Virginia and northeastern North Carolina includes 6,800 miles of transmission lines and 58,510 miles of distribution lines. Transmission lines transport energy over larger distances and connect to distribution lines, which then deliver power to homes and businesses. 

Dominion Energy serves 2.8 million customers in Virginia and northeastern N.C.