People’s Electric Cooperative Featured in T&D World Magazine for Innovative Drone Inspection Integration With MinMax eSMART

MinMax Technologies is proud to announce that People’s Electric Cooperative (PEC), based in Ada, Oklahoma, has been featured in the June 2026 issue of T&D World Magazine for its innovative approach to integrating drone inspections directly into utility asset management workflows using the MinMax eSMART platform.

The article, titled “Beyond the Drone,” was written by Matt Cooley of People’s Electric Cooperative and officially released today in T&D World’s June 2026 publication. The feature highlights how PEC transformed drone inspections from a standalone field tool into a fully integrated, data-driven inspection and maintenance strategy through the use of MinMax eSMART.

Serving more than 24,000 active meters across south-central Oklahoma, People’s Electric Cooperative maintains over 5,100 miles of distribution line, 99 miles of transmission line, and 23 substations. As inspection demands continued to increase across a growing infrastructure network, PEC began utilizing drone technology to improve visibility, inspection quality, and operational efficiency.

While drone technology significantly enhanced field visibility through aerial imagery and thermal inspections, PEC recognized that the real value of drone inspections depended on how effectively the collected data could be integrated into existing maintenance and asset management processes. The cooperative partnered with MinMax Technologies to embed drone imagery, GPS mapping data, thermal scans, and inspection findings directly into the MinMax eSMART asset management platform.

The collaboration included onsite development sessions between PEC personnel and the MinMax development team to better understand real-world drone inspection workflows and operational requirements. The result was the development of an integrated aerial inspection module within MinMax eSMART that links drone inspection data directly to utility assets, work orders, inspection histories, and reporting tools.

According to the article, the integration has already provided measurable improvements in reliability, safety, efficiency, and proactive maintenance planning. Drone inspections have helped identify failing connectors, damaged transmission structures, and overheating equipment before outages occurred — allowing crews to address issues earlier and reduce operational costs.

By incorporating drone inspection data into a centralized asset management environment, People’s Electric Cooperative has strengthened inspection consistency, improved visibility across departments, and created a more scalable, proactive maintenance strategy for transmission, distribution, and substation assets.

The article also highlights PEC’s future plans to expand drone inspections into distribution operations, storm damage assessment, right-of-way inspections, and field inventory management as the cooperative continues modernizing its infrastructure management processes.

MinMax Technologies is honored to have partnered with People’s Electric Cooperative throughout the development of the MinMax eSMART aerial inspection module and appreciates the collaboration, operational insight, and feedback provided by the PEC team during the project.

The June 2026 issue of T&D World Magazine featuring People’s Electric Cooperative is available here: https://issuu.com/docs/5042e6117865a9f5eba1cf909a8e44f2?fr=xKAE9_zMzMw&oly_enc_id=7959J7476778B3B

(Alternative link: https://minmaxtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2606TDW_f21PeoplesElectricDrones.pdf)

For more information about MinMax eSMART or to view a live demonstration, please send an email to info@minmaxtech.com.