Faster, Cheaper, Safer: Tennessee Valley Authority’s Tecnam P2012 SMP Puts an “Eye in the Sky” Over Its Power Grid
As featured on WKRN News 2 Nashville, TVA’s LiDAR-equipped twin surveys more than three acres per second over 16,000 miles of transmission lines, at a fraction of helicopter operating costs, cutting analysis work from months to minutes.
Capua, Italy – October 21, 2026 – The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is showing what the Tecnam P2012 Special Mission Platform (SMP) means in day-to-day operations. In a report broadcast on October 14 by WKRN News 2 Nashville, TVA’s aviation and transmission teams described how their P2012 SMP has become the utility’s “eye in the sky” over more than 16,000 miles of transmission lines, making line maintenance faster, cheaper and safer.
The aircraft carries a LiDAR laser scanner able to survey more than three acres of land every second, together with four cameras that photograph every mile of TVA’s transmission network. Once the data is collected in flight, TVA’s transmission foresters can pinpoint vegetation threats and send crews to the exact location.
Operating economics are at the heart of the program. TVA Aviation Manager Phil Kanagy, who previously flew the same survey missions in helicopters, explained that while helicopters remain extremely useful for getting in and out of tight places, their operating costs are 75% higher than those of the airplane. “We’re able to collect the data much faster than before, much cheaper than before, and at a higher altitude than we were with helicopters,” Kanagy told WKRN. Flying higher also makes the missions much safer for his crew.
On the ground, the benefits are just as tangible. TVA surveyor Robert Byrd, whose job has moved from field equipment to GPS and now to airborne LiDAR over the past 20 years, recalled working “forty hours a week, hot or cold, snakes, ticks, chiggers” in the field. According to TVA Transmission Forester Matthew Townsend, work that used to take his team months now takes about 15 to 20 minutes. “Saves us a lot of time, a lot of money, and it saves us from any potential heat stress, snake bites, anything like that that could hurt us out in the field”, Townsend said.
TVA’s aerial program, fully implemented in 2025 after five years of research, uses the P2012 SMP for the annual survey of the more than 5,000 miles of transmission lines in its vegetation management cycle. A two-pilot crew covers approximately 450 miles a day, compared with up to five miles for a ground crew, helping keep the lights on for 10 million people.
The P2012 SMP was designed for exactly this kind of mission. Its twin Lycoming TEO-540-C1A piston engines, with electronic engine control, are efficient at the low and medium altitudes where survey work is flown, with a fuel consumption of around 31 US gallons per hour. Two ventral hatches and generous onboard electrical power make it straightforward to integrate LiDAR and multi-camera systems, while twin-engine redundancy allows crews to operate safely over forests, mountains and populated areas.
https://tecnam.com/aircraft/p2012-sentinel-smp/
“Special mission operators don’t buy flight hours, they buy data, and what matters is how much quality data each dollar delivers,” said Francesco Sferra, Tecnam P2012 – Special Mission Platforms Sales & Business Development Manager. “TVA’s experience says it better than any brochure: the data quality of a helicopter survey, collected faster, from a safer altitude and at a much lower operating cost. The P2012 SMP was conceived as an affordable twin-engine platform with the payload, power and stability to carry LiDAR and camera systems all day long. We are proud to see TVA’s teams turning that capability into real savings for the communities they serve.”
Watch the WKRN News 2 report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtVGL6KZEo4
About Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a corporate agency of the United States that provides electricity for business customers and local power companies serving nearly 10 million people in parts of seven southeastern states. TVA receives no taxpayer funding, deriving virtually all of its revenues from sales of electricity.
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