More than 30 AEP Texas employees gathered at the Kingsville Service Center on Tuesday, July 7 to watch a live demonstration of drone technology that could transform how the company maintains power lines along the Texas coast. Rather than responding after equipment fails, AEP Texas is exploring ways to proactively clean insulators before contamination affects system performance.

The demonstration, conducted by Florida-based LucidBots, showcased a drone equipped with a high-pressure washing system capable of cleaning energized insulators using deionized water. The pilot is part of AEP Texas' ongoing effort to evaluate innovative technologies that enhance employee safety, improve system reliability and deliver better service to customers.

The demonstration drew frontline employees from across the company, including line crews, supervisors and distribution operations personnel who routinely perform insulator washing in the field. Their feedback will play a key role in determining whether drone-assisted washing can improve current maintenance practices. The technology is still under evaluation. If adopted, the technology could initially be deployed with dedicated drone crews assigned to wash energized and de-energized equipment throughout the AEP Texas service territory.