Overstory launches predictive AI to pinpoint wildfire and outage risks for utilities

New updates have been reported about Overstory.

Overstory has introduced new AI-based Ignition and Outage Models that forecast where utility-caused wildfires and power interruptions are most likely to begin, moving grid operators from reactive response to targeted prevention. By combining satellite and aerial imagery with utility outage histories, asset condition and weather data, the platform ranks specific trees, shrubs and equipment by risk, giving utilities a prioritized worklist to prevent the highest-impact incidents first.

The company also rolled out Overstory Scenarios, a planning tool that lets utilities compare in real time the cost and expected risk reduction of different resilience programs across their networks. This capability is designed to help operators under intense cost and regulatory pressure direct limited budgets to the interventions that deliver the greatest safety and reliability gains per dollar.

Overstory’s models draw on years of vegetation and fuel mapping across millions of grid miles and are validated by certified arborists to ensure operational credibility for field teams and regulators. The new layer of predictive analytics extends that foundation from identifying hazards to recommending the most effective mitigation actions, such as removing high-risk vegetation, managing ground fuels or upgrading aging assets in ignition-prone corridors.

CEO Fiona Spruill positioned the release as an answer to escalating storm and wildfire threats that are forcing utilities to “act before an outage or ignition occurs,” signaling a strategic push toward proactive grid resilience. With six of the ten largest North American utilities already customers, the launches underscore Overstory’s bid to deepen its role in utility planning cycles and capital allocation, potentially influencing how resilience budgets are justified, prioritized and scrutinized by boards and regulators.

As utilities and policymakers demand more quantifiable risk-reduction outcomes, Overstory’s scenario modeling could become a decision-support standard for vegetation management, wildfire mitigation and asset renewal programs. The company, backed by infrastructure-focused investors and headquartered in Boston and Amsterdam, is positioning its platform as core infrastructure for grid safety, with potential to expand use cases as climate-driven risks intensify and data-driven regulation tightens.