Westar Energy, a dominant electric company, is planning on deploying unmanned air force in the war on power outages.

After obtaining a rule exemption from the Federal Aviation Administration, Westar Energy is serious in using two remote-controlled aerial drones to help in the company's line of work.

The drones will search for remote transmission line breaks, storm damages and wind turbine blades inspection.

"The abilities with these systems are endless," said Jason Klenklen, supervisor of transmission maintenance and one of Westar's two drone-qualified pilots. "You name it, it can be done with them - anything from aerial inspection of wind turbines to shooting pictures for our communications department."

The company is having two quad-copter-style machines that are about 2 to 3 feet across, including the propellers, with a weight of 5 to 12 pounds. They cost around $5,000 to $15,000. However, Klenklen emphasized that these drones are not toys. Meaning to say, if one of the drones' parts get broken, they have to be reported like an actual plane crash.

"It's not fun and games when you're doing this stuff," Klenklen said. "It's all seriousness when it comes down to flying them."

Despite the inexpensive cost of the drones, the company is still going to spend much as they are going to acquire high-quality sensors and cameras that can help them in having a close-up inspection of utility towers and lines.

"It's safer for all involved," Klenklen said.

Under current FAA regulations, Westar's drones are only allowed in remote areas and only those who are members of the technical team are allowed to be within 500 feet of the drone when it's in use.

"Say there was somebody camping under the line or something like that; we cannot fly over them," Klenklen said.

Under requirement from FAA is that commercial drone pilots are to have licenses. These licenses are the same license when piloting a manned aircraft. Most of all, the drones should always be in the line of sight of the operators.

Since the biggest challenge has been lifted, Klenklen hopes that the rest of the process can now be done and accomplished in weeks and not months.