Hawaiian Electric crews joined by partner California utility workers to expedite restoration work

Mutual assistance utility workers from California are on Hawai‘i Island joining the more than 500 employees and contractors who have been working around the clock in the field and behind the scenes across the islands to repair equipment and restore power following the devastation caused by Hurricane Lala.

Hawaiian Electric expects nearly all impacted customers to be restored on Hawai‘i Island by Friday, except for certain remote and severely damaged areas. As of 2:30 p.m., about 80% of impacted customers have been restored on Hawaiʻi Island. Currently, about 13,000 are without power. 

Learn more about the extended outages in the company’s “Facts about the prolonged outages on Hawai‘i Island” and see the related estimated Hawai‘i Island restoration map, which is updated to reflect current restoration estimates. Restoration times are subject to change due to weather conditions or if additional work is required as repairs progress.

Through Hawaiian Electric’s partnership in the Western Region Mutual Assistance Group, Southern California Edison has deployed teams who will work under the direction of Hawaiian Electric’s Hawai‘i Island crews to support the restoration efforts in some of hardest hit areas that saw severe flash flooding and extreme winds. The Western Region Mutual Assistance Group is a network of 62 utilities that help one another during major emergencies. 

As part of the utility network, in 2018, Hawaiian Electric answered a request from Pacific Gas & Electric to help restore power following devastating wildfires in Northern California. Hawaiian Electric deployed five overhead line crews, who installed 130 utility poles and spans to support restoration efforts during the three-week deployment in Butte County, California.

Today, crews continue to work on stabilizing the systems, repairing damage and safely restoring as many customers as possible across its service territories ahead of the new potential storm system approaching the state. Although power has been restored to many customers, work is still underway to the electrical systems on each island. 

Hawaiian Electric has essentially restored power to all customers impacted by Tropical Storm Lala on O‘ahu and Maui, two days earlier than its Friday target of restoring 95% of impacted customers. Crews continue to work on small pocket outages and individual service lines on these islands.

Customers who are without power but see their neighbors have electricity restored should call their respective Trouble Line to report the outage:

• Hawai‘i Island: 1-855-304-9191 or Report online
• O‘ahu: 1-855-304-1212 or Report online
• Maui County: 1-855-304-8181 or Report online

Be prepared

With another potential storm on its way, the company urges customers to review their emergency plans, ensure they have supplies on hand and to closely monitor weather updates. Preparation and safety tips are available at hawaiianelectric.com/stormcenter. Detailed tips may also be found in the HECO Handbook for Emergency Preparedness, which can be downloaded for free in English, Cantonese, Ilocano, Korean, and Vietnamese languages, as well as a version for children.

Misinformation about filing claims

According to HECO, “There is a lot of misinformation circulating about filing a claim after a power outage.” Under Tariff Rule No. 16, approved by the State of Hawai‘i Public Utilities Commission, Hawaiian Electric is not liable for losses “caused by accident, storm, fire, strikes, riots, war, public safety power shutoff or any cause not within the company’s control through the exercise of reasonable diligence and care.” The losses that are not covered include, but are not limited to, food spoilage and medication that requires refrigeration, etc. More information about filing damage claims can be found on the company’s website.