Dominion Energy (NYSE: D) has tapped Skydio, a drone manufacturer headquartered in Redwood City, California, for unmanned vehicles to help inspect the utility company’s power generation facilities in seven states, including Virginia.
Richmond-headquartered Dominion said Wednesday it received a waiver to use the drones from the Federal Aviation Commission via its work with the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corp., which is a participant in a pilot program from the FAA to integrate drones into the work of local governments. The Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership is the state’s lead partner in the FAA Beyond Program.
The waiver allows workers like power plant engineers to fly drones beyond their line of sight with no need for an additional crew member or technology to detect nearby crewed aircraft.
Dominion said it will use Skydio X2 drones to inspect more than 40 facilities in Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia in addition to Virginia. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The company has been using drones in various capacities since 2014 and it said its current fleet now includes roughly 50 unmanned aircraft. Dominion said it uses drones to make measurements, assess construction progress, to conduct surveys and mapping as well as to inspect infrastructure.
Nate Robie, Dominion’s unmanned systems program manager, said in a statement inspections by battery-powered drones will save the company time and increases safety for employees, who will no longer need to repel down structures for assessments.
The Skydio says its X2 drones are powered by an AI-based autonomous flight engine, which allows them to navigate with 360-degree obstacle avoidance in an any environment — even those without GPS.
Founded in 2014, Skydio started more as a consumer-oriented company before shifting toward commercial operations after developing its obstacle-avoidance software. It still offers products more geared toward hobbyists, including a product that starts at $1,100. The company raised a $170 million Series D round last year that valued the company at more than $1 billion.
Dominion posted $4.28 billion in revenue in the first quarter, up from $3.87 billion in the first quarter of 2021. It reported $711 million in net income for the quarter, down from $1.01 billion from the first quarter of 2021.
