Meet the Tools Helping Power Companies Separate Threats from Noise

As threats to power companies rise—from cyberattacks to theft and vandalism—many utilities are rethinking how to secure facilities and critical infrastructure. Outdated systems that constantly trigger false alarms from wind, weather, or wildlife are draining resources—making it imperative for utilities to modernize their security to improve response, cut costs and reduce reliance on armed personnel.

That’s why a growing number of companies are turning to a new approach—combining LiDAR, digital twins and AI-powered intrusion detection to not only spot and make sense of threats in real-time but to also tell the difference between a human trespasser bent on damaging infrastructure and a coyote just looking for a snack. By layering these tools, power companies can reduce false alarms, eliminate undetected breaches and avoid expensive recertifications—all while gaining a 24/7 view of who’s entering, where they’ve been and what equipment they’ve potentially tampered with.

In environments dense with electromagnetic interference and metal infrastructure, traditional security systems frequently falter—overwhelmed by signal disruption and blind spots. Cameras, video analytics, fence-based intrusion detection and even radar can be defeated by poor lighting, confused by storms or vibrations from heavy equipment, or rendered useless when faced with a wall or forest of metal. That leaves operators frequently responding to false alarms, juggling alerts from disparate systems that don’t communicate with each other and struggling to determine the situation on the ground.

There’s also the cost of recertification. When an intruder breaches a substation, power companies face more than just the threat of theft or vandalism—they also risk violating North American Electric Reliability (NERC) Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) regulations. One major consequence is the requirement to recertify the entire substation, a process that can cost upwards of $100,000 per site. Without knowing exactly where an intruder went or what systems they interacted with, utilities must assume the entire site has been compromised and are left with little choice but to recertify everything.

The latest technology solutions, however, address this challenge head-on. By combining a 3D digital twin of the site with LiDAR sensors—which form a “mesh” of laser light that covers every inch of the protected area—power companies can track movement inside and outside of substations. Unlike cameras or radar, LiDAR delivers volumetric detection that can identify whether an object is a person, an animal or something else entirely. Adding AI to the equation provides even greater customization, allowing companies to include or exclude specific objects, such as foxes, coyotes or alligators, when setting up alerts.

These systems also enable “digital breadcrumbs”—a visual, time-stamped trail that shows exactly where someone moved throughout a facility. In the case of a breach, that trail becomes critical to understanding whether sensitive equipment was accessed, and which areas need to be inspected or recertified. Operators can even configure zones based on the level of concern: some areas might silently log activity, while others trigger immediate alarms.

While neither digital twins nor LiDAR are new technologies, the ability to combine them and overlay AI creates a unified approach to security and a level of precision previously missing from intrusion detection and tracking tools. This not only reduces unnecessary investigations but also reduces inefficiencies and costs. Fewer false alarms mean fewer wasted hours and fewer disruptions. And AI-assisted tracking allows staff to monitor more sites without adding additional personnel.

Plus, many companies already use digital twins for modeling and engineering, allowing them to repurpose existing assets for security. Several utility companies across the U.S. and abroad are already running this technology, with interest growing rapidly. Some are leveraging existing digital twins, while others are building them using drone-based photogrammetry. In both cases, design takes just a day or two, and it can be tested and verified virtually without the need of onsite testing, allowing operators to see exactly how the technology performs before installing anything onsite.

As attacks on the grid become more frequent and sophisticated, the need for smarter security is only growing. It’s not just about deterring intrusions. It’s about knowing what happened, where it happened and how to quickly respond. The power grid is too important to protect with outdated tools. It’s time to bring next-generation precision to the frontlines of critical infrastructure defense.

—Nick Karakulko is a senior director at Hexagon.