Why every utility will have a drone fleet sooner than you think

What if your next utility crew didn’t drive, but flew? Autonomous drones are no longer experimental toys, they’re rapidly become indispensable tools for utilities facing today’s most pressing challenges: extreme weather, aging infrastructure, and reliability amid rising demand. In this episode of *Power Perspectives*, we explore how autonomous drones are becoming essential tools for modern utilities—helping detect failures before they happen, reducing field crew risks, and speeding up outage response. To highlight this topic, our guest is Christina Park, Senior Director of Energy Strategy at Skydio, an industry leader at the forefront of AI-powered drone technology. Christina shares lessons from her years leading digital transformation at NYPA and explains how utilities can successfully scale drone programs from one-off pilots to enterprise-wide deployments. From the role of autonomy and AI to tackling inertia within large utility organizations, Christina offers a clear-eyed look at the real-world challenges—and massive opportunities—that drones bring to energy infrastructure. Key Links: Energy Central Post with Episode Transcript: https://www.energycentral.com/podcasts/post/why-every-utility-will-have-a-drone-fleet-sooner-than-you-think-OwiMdjzaSz1cLgt Video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/MV7aGqwfIDA Christina Park on Energy Central: https://www.energycentral.com/member/ahfqLnthAM Ask a Question to Our Future Guests: Do you have a burning question for the utility executives and energy industry thought leaders that we feature each week on Power Perspectives? Leave us a message here for your chance to be featured in an upcoming episode: www.speakpipe.com/EnergyCentralPodcast