Kauaʻi power assessment underway; HECO restores power to 1,000 Oʻahu customers overnight

HECO restores power to 1,000 Oʻahu customers overnight

Hawaiian Electric restored electricity overnight to another 1,060 customers on Oʻahu who were impacted by Hurricane Lowell. As of 6:30 a.m., around 440 customers, mostly in Mākaha Valley and pockets in Honolulu and Windward areas, remain without power. However, assessments and repairs in those areas are expected to be completed later today.

Depending on the type of damage, some customers who remain without power may need to hire an electrician to make repairs to their equipment before the company can safely reconnect electric service to their homes.

Customers who are without power should first check their main circuit breaker before reporting the outage online or by calling Hawaiian Electric’s Oʻahu Trouble Line at 1-855-304-1212.

Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative restore power to 466 customers in ‘Ele‘ele and Hanapēpē

Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative was able to restore 466 members in ‘Ele‘ele and Hanapēpē on Tuesday, while damage assessment crews conducted an initial sweep of transmission line inspections with the assistance of drone technology.

“We were pleased that some restoration could be made,” said KIUC’s Chief of Operations, Brad Rockwell, “but unfortunately the majority of our members remain without power.” Approximately 90% of KIUC members experienced an outage at some point during the storm.

Prioritizing Repairs

Inspections focused on transmission lines, which are the backbone of Kaua‘i’s grid and must be repaired prior to attempting to restore individual distribution circuits. Inspection of all of KIUC’s transmission lines was completed Tuesday using helicopter surveillance, drone examination, and on-the-ground inspection. 

“Our efforts the next two days will focus on completing these transmission system repairs,” Rockwell said. “If all goes well, we can complete that work and shift to repairing distribution circuits by the end of this week, if not earlier.”

Restoration Plan

Recognizing the need to restore power to critical infrastructure as quickly as possible, KIUC will prioritize these facilities and high density population areas for initial distribution-level restoration efforts.

Additional Resources

Prior to the onset of Hurricane Lowell, KIUC brought additional contract tree trimming crews and utility inspection personnel to Kaua‘i. KIUC has executed an agreement with the Western Region Mutual Assistance Agreement, and is in discussions to mobilize supplemental crews and equipment from Hawaiian Electric Company to arrive on island soon.

Other Storm Impacts

Based on preliminary inspections, it appears that distribution lines and associated equipment took the biggest hit from Hurricane Lowell, according to Rockwell. Transmission lines and substations were also damaged. There appears to have been no significant damage to KIUC-owned generation units. Information regarding non-KIUC-owned generation facilities is still being gathered.

KIUC’s President and Chief Executive Officer, David Bissell, stressed that KIUC is placing all available resources toward restoring members as quickly as possible. “We know our members want to know when their power will be restored. However, this is a significant island-wide restoration effort, and we ask for our members’ patience as our crews work restore power” Bissell said.