High-resolution cameras scanning Colorado forests once every minute, 24-7 — linked to a smoke-detecting artificial intelligence algorithm residing in a computer cloud — are popping up on Colorado high points from Lookout Mountain near Golden to Telluride’s Ajax Peak.

“Colorado has had five years of the largest fires in its history,” Telluride Fire Chief John Bennett said. “This is a new tool to help with early detection, allowing us to try to get to fires before they become big fires.”

The early detection system was developed and is operated by San Francisco-based Pano AI, and by the end of 2023 there will be 40 Pano installations in Colorado, including ones already in Telluride, Beaver Creek, Vail, Aspen and Boulder.

The biggest investment in the technology is being made by Xcel Energy, the state’s largest electricity provider, which Tuesday announced that it has committed to installing a total of 21 stations, each with two cameras, by year’s end.

“The risk of wildfire continues to evolve … driven by climate change,” Robert Kenney, the CEO of Xcel Energy’s Colorado subsidiary, said at a news conference at Arvada Fire Station 9.  Fire season, he said, has turned into “a year-round battle.”

At a cost of $50,000 a year for each two-camera unit, the five-year contract with Pano AI is valued at an estimated $5.25 million. The cost, Kenney said, will be recovered in customer rates.

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