VIDEO: First responders in West Texas and the Panhandle now have 24/7 access to 57 AI-powered cameras, thanks to an ongoing partnership between Xcel Energy and Pano AI.
The pair teamed up last year after the energy company accepted responsibility for the largest wildfire in state history, the Smokehouse Creek fire.
Wes Reeves, Xcelโs Senior Community Engagement Manager for Wildfire Mitigation, says this technology is all about giving first responders the upper hand.
โItโs about protection,โ Reeves says. โObviously, we want to protect our assets, but itโs also a way to give our responders a heads up and help them do their job more efficiently and get to those fires more quickly.โ
These cameras are funded under the stateโs first-ever $490 million Texas System Resiliency Plan, proposed to the Public Utility Commission of Texas in December of 2024. It aims to make the companyโs transmission and distribution systems more resilient against extreme weather events and reduce the potential for wildfire ignitions.
