In 2024, PG&E undertook a company-wide effort to more accurately assess wood pole health by implementing a new, minimally intrusive inspection method that was lab-validated, field-piloted, and operationalized. The engineering staff at Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s Applied Technology Services organization successfully tested and analyzed the IML PowerDrill before deploying it to the electric operations team to replace traditional sound and bore techniques. This session on PG&E’s IML PowerDrill deployment will include a discussion of the problem statement and impetus of this important effort, previous attempts at technology roll-out and current success.

The road to implementation of innovative solutions, even one that clearly improves an existing process, is often faced with challenges. This presentation on the introduction of the IML PowerDrill technology for intrusive wood pole inspections highlights the importance of understanding the problem, applying engineering rigor to experimentation and testing, presenting objective results to clients to let the "data speak for itself", and the importance of supporting the adoption of the technology until it is fully operationalized. The presenter will discuss the empirical data used to prove a hypothesis, the challenges of change management and implementation of a new technology in the face of well-established practices, and the deployment’s positive impacts to the business.