JCP&L Drones Flying Thursday To Inspect Power Lines

BRICK, NJ — If you look up and see drones flying low in the area on Thursday, it's not the neighbor down the street being annoying; Brick Township police say it's just the power company.

The police department put out a notice Thursday morning saying

"If you notice some drones flying low in the area of power stations and power lines today, do not be alarmed," the notice said. "This is a scheduled, routine inspection by the power company, and the local authorities are aware of it."

Jersey Central Power & Light and its parent company, First Energy, said it has a six-person drone team that it has been using over the past year for tasks such as inspecting the nests of protected birds of prey and assessing damage following severe weather, as well as more routine inspections of substations as part of a program to prioritize and replace wooden poles.

The company’s drone pilots are trained and are licensed through the Federal Aviation Administration. In order to become certified, drone pilots must complete a rigorous program that includes ground school and training on airspace navigation.

See the JCP&L drone work in this video:

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