This year, electric utilities in New Zealand are preparing for regulatory updates that will expand their ability to manage trees planted by customers or growing outside their direct rights of way. The changes are a win for risk-based vegetation management, but they raise new questions about how to manage expanded zones effectively and safeguard infrastructure reliability.

The decision to move forward with a tech solution to operational challenges raises a familiar question. Do you build the tech in-house or buy from a partner? This piece offers a framework to help clarify that decision: what to build, what to buy, and how to make the best choice for your team.

At Edison Electric Institute’s (EEI) annual meeting, the Overstory team joined utility leaders and industry experts to discuss how utilities can practically improve grid resilience. The atmosphere was collaborative and forward-looking, focusing on the impact of artificial intelligence on reliability, cybersecurity, wildfire prevention, and operations.

Starting June 15, Overstory is partnering with Watch Duty to combine real-time vegetation risk data with live wildfire alerts. This partnership will provide utilities and first responders with actionable insights to proactively manage wildfire threats, mitigate risks and protect communities.

In our recent panel, Engineering a Resilient Future, four of Overstory’s senior leaders came together to share what leadership looks like in climate tech, how we scale while staying true to our values, and why we’re growing a team rotted in curiosity, humility, and collaboration.

Managing transmission resilience with fixed cycles alone doesn’t cut it anymore. We break down the biggest myths in transmission vegetation management—and show how data-driven decisions improve compliance, cut costs, and improve resilience.

Effectively piloting vegetation intelligence allows your team to understand how the solution can fit into your long-term goals and support proactive decision making when testing use cases to find out what delivers the biggest operational impact. This guide walks you through steps for designing a pilot that gives you clear results and communicates impact.

With the availability and integration of advanced tools like LiDAR, satellite imagery, and artificial intelligence, the utility tech has evolved to meet changing vegetation risks. Vegetation intelligence can significantly improve reliability, optimize resources, and mitigate risks from storms and wildfires by delivering actionable insights. This guide helps utilities navigate the evaluation process to choose the tools and partners to meet your objectives and build a more resilient grid.