Tales of technological transformation are common, with many having moved on to significantly new chapters. Take, for instance, the exponential progress in air and space travel. From the first instance of flight at Kitty Hawk to supersonic aircraft and manned space stations, what was once inconceivable is now a reality. A similar transformation occurred in the communication industry in the 1990s into the 2000s as we were introduced to mobile and smartphone technology.

An era of transformation is now underway for the power industry where until recently, the fundamental “how” of delivering electricity has remained constant over the last 120 years. Constrained by legacy infrastructure, however, some technology advances have not been easy for the power industry to incorporate into aging grids.

Today’s electrical distribution grid has ushered in many small, unregulated, and diversely owned Distributed Energy Resources (DERs). Power delivery is becoming more complex with the advent of decentralization, cross-boundary distribution grids, multi-way power flow, and smaller-scale transmission, driven by renewable generation and battery storage.

The need for safe, reliable power exists more now than any time in history. Challenges to both personnel safety and electrical reliability is exacerbated by an aging electrical infrastructure and extreme weather conditions. The recent wildfires involving the electrical infrastructure have created a major concern to the environment. These industry realities highlight the need for distribution grid modernization solutions focused on reliability and safety.

Enter Sentient Energy. The company leads the industry in developing innovative products that “make power delivery safe, reliable and adaptable to the changing environment.” Recently acquired by Koch Engineered Solutions (KES), a unit of Koch Industries, Inc., the U.S. based company provides the industry’s only Intelligent Sensing Platform that covers the entire distribution system. Sentient Energy’s quickly-deployed intelligent sensors and analytics identify, analyze and help predict potential faults and other grid events. “KES’s drive to develop a new intelligent grid platform capable of meeting the distribution grid needs of today and tomorrow is exciting and innovative. Sentient Energy’s Grid Analytics SystemTM creates a strong foundation which KES plans to build upon. The Sentient Energy team is excited to work with KES and be part of the journey forward,” says Jim Keener, CEO of Sentient Energy.

With a focus on public and utility personnel safety, Sentient Energy uses previously unharnessed data to help utilities predict grid events and safety issues before they happen. A step ahead of today’s reactive and resource-intensive software and hardware solutions, Sentient Energy’s solutions work proactively to help utilities provide the safest and most reliable power delivery possible. The company’s Intelligent Sensing Platform combines highly-accurate intelligent grid sensors, easily deployable on any powerline, with powerful management and analytics applications enabling utilities to detect faults, cost-efficiently preempt problems and deliver dependable power. Along with this, Sentient Energy is focused on keeping its devices cost-effective and high quality.