What if utilities could see infrastructure failures before they happen? What if grid operators, regulators, and energy companies could harness the power of artificial intelligence to prevent outages?

Heat waves, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, and winter cold snaps are getting more extreme. But as their intensity ramps up, so does computing power, and particularly the capabilities of artificial intelligence.

In this episode of the Energy Capital Podcast, I spoke with Mary Cleary, VP, Marketing, Communications & Public Policy at Neara, a company pioneering AI-driven predictive modeling for utilities and grid planners and operators. Their technology is already helping major power providers anticipate and mitigate damage before storms, wildfires, and grid failures occur.

We discussed how Neara’s platform builds hyper-detailed digital models of the grid, down to individual poles, wires, and even the exact species of trees near power lines. Using LIDAR scans and AI classification, utilities can create real-time risk maps that help prioritize maintenance, allowing them to proactively prevent outages before they happen rather than reacting after the fact.

This technology is already delivering results. In Houston, Neara’s partnership with CenterPoint Energy has cut processes that once took a year and a half down to just a few hours. Rather than relying on slow, manual inspections, utilities can now simulate storm impacts and predict which infrastructure is most vulnerable before a storm makes landfall.

AI is also changing the way utilities manage wildfire risk. By analyzing environmental conditions like wind speeds, temperatures, vegetation density, and the age and vulnerability of equipment, Neara’s models help utilities pinpoint the highest-risk areas, allowing for targeted prevention measures instead of costly, broad-stroke fixes.

Beyond disaster response, we also explored the role of AI in grid modernization and demand forecasting. With Texas’ rapid energy demand growth, driven in part by AI data centers and industrial expansion, utilities need smarter ways to anticipate and manage electricity needs. Predictive modeling using artificial intelligence is giving them that capability.

One of the most fascinating parts of our conversation was how AI can help utilities make more cost-effective investments. Instead of replacing entire sections of aging infrastructure, Neara’s software allows for surgical upgrades—determining exactly which poles need reinforcement, which lines need reconductoring, and where distributed energy resources could provide the most resilience.

AI is often discussed as a massive new energy consumer, but as Mary pointed out, there’s far less conversation about how AI can be a critical tool for making the grid more efficient and reliable.

This episode provides an exciting look at the future of grid resilience, extreme weather preparedness, and how AI is changing the way we think about energy infrastructure.

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Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction: AI, predictive modeling & the future of the grid01:58 – What is Neara? AI-driven modeling for utilities & extreme weather response04:33 – Case study: CenterPoint partnership (Houston’s 27,000 miles of lines)06:30 – How AI interprets LiDAR & optimizes storm recovery09:30 – Reliability vs. Resiliency: Measuring grid performance, customer expectations12:33 – AI disaster modeling: Hurricanes, floods & wildfire case studies15:45 – LiDAR & Dynamic Line Rating (DLR): Unlocking hidden grid capacity

18:00 - Could AI help relieve the transmission constraints that contributed to energy emergency on September 6, 2023?20:1 6 – Winter storms & gas infrastructure: Predicting failures before they happen23:00 – Optimizing energy resource placement: AI’s role in siting generation resources24:22 – AI’s next areas of development and limitations & regulatory roadblocks28:00 – Flaws in reliability metrics (SAIDI & SAIFI) & need for predictive benchmarks33:34 – Balancing cost, reliability & AI-driven efficiency36:01 – Effective policy constructs for reliability and resiliency38:24 – AI, Senate Bill 6 & large load growth: The power of micro-solutions43:21 – House Bill 2555 & Texas grid investments: Balancing cost, data & outcomes46:45 – Regulatory innovation & final thoughts on AI-driven transformation48:18 – Conclusion & call to action

Shownotes

Further Reading from the Texas Energy & Power Newsletter

* You Get What You Pay For: Let’s Pay Utilities for Performance

* Large Loads at the Lege: Grid Roundup #40

* Texas’ Energy Future: A Conversation with Jimmy Glotfelty

AI-Powered Grid Resilience & Predictive Modeling

* Neara’s Website – Explore Neara’s AI-driven platform for grid infrastructure modeling and predictive analytics.

* How Neara Uses AI for Utility Infrastructure – Detailed breakdown of Neara’s AI capabilities, including digital twins and predictive risk assessment.

* Neara Platform Overview

* How Neara Works

* Hurricane Preparedness Utilizing a 3D Digital Twin

* LiDAR Utilization for Utilities

* CenterPoint Energy & Neara Collaboration – Announcement of their partnership to enhance grid resilience in Greater Houston following Hurricane Beryl.

* AI for Grid Optimization – The International Energy Agency's insights on AI’s growing role in modern energy systems.

* Why AI and Energy Are the New Power Couple

* Electricity Grids and Secure Energy Transitions

AI & Wildfire Risk Mitigation

* Neara’s Wildfire Risk Modeling – How AI helps utilities predict and mitigate wildfire risks.

* Neara’s Collaboration with Southern California Edison (SCE)

* CenterPoint Energy & Technosylva Collaboration – Using predictive analytics for wildfire and extreme weather preparation.

* How AI is Being Used to Fight Wildfires – A look at AI’s role in early detection and prevention.

* AI-Powered Camera Networks for California Wildfires

* Google’s Satellite Surveillance initiative (FireSat)

* USC Scientists Use AI to Predict Wildfire’s Next Move

AI and Demand Forecasting for Energy Grids

* Artificial Intelligence for Energy – U.S. Department of Energy’s take on how AI is shaping power grids.

* How AI Can Help Clean Energy Meet Growing Electricity Demand

* DOE Advancing Safe and Secure AI Research Infrastructure Through the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Pilot

* DOE Announces New Actions to Enhance America’s Global Leadership in Artificial Intelligence

Transcript

Mary Cleary (00:01 .982)

And what we're seeing so far already is that CenterPoint has been able to compress processes that once took them a year and a half down to just a few hours.

Doug Lewin (00:13 .134)

How long do you think it takes a utility to figure out which power lines will fall in the next big storm? Days or weeks? You think maybe months? In many cases, it's actually years. And with extreme weather happening more frequently and customers expecting power back in hours, not days, the old ways just aren't cutting it anymore. But what if AI could predict grid failures before they happen?

What if utilities had a digital model of every single power line, pole and tree so they could prepare for h