Inspection practices and new technologies can improve utility pole reliability and service life.
TRENDS
Building Grid Resilience
Inspection practices and new technologies can improve utility pole reliability and service life.
By Seth Skydel
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Out of the roughly 180 million utility poles in the U. S., an estimated 130 million are wooden. Those traditional poles have long been the backbone of electrical and communication networks. However, susceptible to pests and extreme weather events they come with limitations and risks. And even in ideal conditions they weaken as they age.
The need to strengthen the nation’ s electrical grid and communications networks has renewed the focus on poles, including inspection and maintenance practices that can help ensure reliability as well as alternatives to wood.
The Utility Pole Maintenance and Upgrades Resilience Investment Guide, a report prepared by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for the U. S. Department of Energy( DOE), Grid Deployment Office in September 2024, noted that repaired, reinforced or replaced poles of any material increase safety by preventing injuries. The guide was produced under
Telecom & Utility Construction | Spring 2025 a DOE grant designed to enhance electric grid resilience against extreme weather and other natural disasters. When it comes to pole inspection and replacement practices, it noted that the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners( NARUC) found that more effective practices substantially reduce the need for pole replacement. For example:
• DTE Energy’ s Pole and Pole Top Maintenance and Modernization Program moves beyond the utility’ s previous replacement-upon-failure protocol for wooden poles with more frequent and intensive inspections to identify poles in need of repair, facilitating reinforcement, when possible, rather than replacement.
• Florida Power & Light( FP & L) moved to a conditioned-based approach to pole inspection, repair and replacement.
• Southern California Edison’ s 2020-2022 wildfire mitigation plan replaced critical wood poles with more fire-resistant composite or lightweight steel poles.
Making Choices For utility poles that have to be replaced, utilities now have choices between traditional wood and other