10,000 Customers Affected by Morning Outages, Feb. 2, 2011

By Wendy Osher

File image by Wendy Osher.

(Update 12:30 p.m. 2/2/11)

For the second time this week, a unit at the Maalaea Power Plant tripped offline, causing a load shed sequence and power outages on Maui.  Today’s outage was reported at 10:43 a.m.

Most customers had power restored within 15 mintues, with remaining customers brought back online shortly after 11 a.m.

The outage affected an estimated 10,000 customers in parts of Lahaina, Wailuku, Waiehu, Pukalani, Paia, Spreckelsville, Kuau, Haiku and Hana.

MECO spokesperson Kau’i Awai Dickson said the cause of the unit tripping offline is under investigation.  A separate offline trip incident involving a generating unit at the Maalaea Power Plant was reported Monday afternoon, Jan. 31, 2011.

(Update 11:00 a.m. 2/2/11)

Crews from Maui Electric Company continued efforts this morning to restore power to customers affected by an outage first reported at 10:43 a.m.

Areas affected include parts of Lahaina, Wailuku, Waiehu, Sprecklesville, Paia, Pukalani and Makawao.

MECO officials say crews are currently in the process of restoring power and apologized for the inconvenience.

We will update you with more information as it becomes available.