Hawaiian Electric aiming to be ‘best in class for wildfire mitigation’ after its downed power line was blamed for starting 2023 Lahaina blaze

When a red flag warning for the leeward side of all islands was set off last week by high winds and dry conditions, Hawaiian Electric cautioned customers to be prepared for a possible planned power outage.

Jim Alberts, company senior vice president, said in a news release: “While we hope shutting off power won’t be necessary, we have to take this threat seriously.”

Hawaiian Electric’s full embrace of proactive power shutoffs is a shift from August 2023, when one of the company’s downed power lines sparked a blaze that burned down Lahaina town, leading to the deaths of 102 people and the destruction of more than 2,200 structures.

Faced with questions about why it hadn’t cut the power to reduce risk during a red flag warning that day, Hawaiian Electric leadership said at the time that shutoff programs were “controversial” and “not universally accepted” because of the impact they have on vulnerable customers.

But then came a barrage of lawsuits by fire survivors, a report blaming Hawaiian Electric equipment for the deadly Aug. 8, 2023 wildfire, and a $4 billion settlement of which HECO will pay half.

Now, the company has committed to an array of changes that include its Public Safety Power Shutoff program, a widespread network of AI-powered cameras and weather stations, and plans to invest $180 million to reduce fire risk on Maui over the next three years.

“Hawaiian Electric’s aim is to be best in class for wildfire mitigation,” Mat McNeff, the company’s director of Maui County, said in an interview with the Hawai‘i Journalism Initiative on Thursday.

Over the past two years, Hawaiian Electric has amassed a statewide network of more than 50 weather stations on four islands as part of a $1.7 million project. In Maui County, more than 35 new stations have been installed so far, a company official said in early July.

The solar-powered stations record temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, and they help utility personnel decide when to shut off the power. The threshold is wind gusts of 45 mph and higher and relative humidity below 45%.

The program, which covers high risk areas of Maui, Moloka‘i, Hawai‘i island and O‘ahu, was put to the test for the first time when the company cut the power for 330 Upcountry Maui customers on a windy day in early July.

Last summer, Hawaiian Electric also launched a $14 million project to install 78 high-resolution video cameras with artificial intelligence to detect smoke in areas with high fire risk near the company’s equipment. The live cameras with 360-degree views are monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and they help alert emergency personnel of a possible fire. McNeff estimated that about 50 cameras have been deployed in Maui County so far.

Some of the electrical equipment also is better. Last year, Hawaiian Electric replaced or upgraded 2,124 wooden poles, according to the company’s three-year wildfire safety strategy. New poles in high fire risk areas all have a protective mesh that goes up eight feet, McNeff said. In areas where windblown debris could interfere with the lines, bare aluminum wiring is being insulated.

The company’s equipment also has devices that can turn off the power when a problem is sensed. McNeff said they are “a lot more sensitive than they used to be, so they’ll turn off power a lot quicker in an attempt to mitigate any ignition sources.”

Last year, the company installed 11 “smart reclosers,” the devices that can automatically shut off power, in circuits covered under the Public Safety Power Shutoff program.

But, “there’s pluses and minuses to turning off the power,” McNeff said.

One of the major downsides is the impact on customers who rely on electricity for their medical equipment. HECO has urged customers with special medical needs to sign up for advance notice of outages and consult with their providers about alternate options.

It’s also a challenge for businesses that rely on refrigeration for their products. During the first proactive power outage in July, some Upcountry farmers whose generators failed or couldn’t support their massive operations lost thousands of dollars worth of dairy products that spoiled.

That’s why shutting off the power is a last resort decision that Hawaiian Electric has to make in collaboration with Maui County emergency officials.

Communication and good working relationships between Hawaiian Electric and the county also has improved, McNeff said. They’ve done drills together and participated in wildfire symposiums with mitigation strategies discussed. When the Emergency Operations Center is activated during incidents, Hawaiian Electric either has someone physically there or participating virtually.

“They all have my email and phone number and call or text frequently,” McNeff said. “So I think just the ease of communication makes things a lot faster. They don’t need to think about who they need to call.”

Hawaiian Electric also has focused on the environment surrounding its equipment. Tree trimming had always been part of its work prior to the fires, but the company has since put more of a priority on managing vegetation in high-risk areas and is going after “hazard trees” that look like they may be sick or dying and could potentially fall on power lines, McNeff said. Last year, 367 hazard trees were addressed. The goal is to keep at least a 10-foot clearance around the lines.

This effort has to be done in collaboration with private landowners. McNeff said the utility needs permission to go on private land to cut hazardous trees and it needs landowners to keep the brush on their properties well managed. Stricter fire codes, stiffer fines and more enforcement by the Maui Fire Department, all implemented since the 2023 wildfires, help to hold landowners accountable.

Many of Hawaiian Electric’s post-fire efforts are part of its $350 million, three-year Wildfire Safety Strategy from 2025 to 2027.

The plan, which the company says will reduce fire risk by 68% to 72%, outlines many of the initiatives the company has been working on, including a more resilient power grid with stronger poles and protected lines, better awareness with weather stations and AI cameras, and vegetation management focused on areas with medium to high wildfire risk.

The plan also proposes the creation of a wildfire-focused Watch Office, including a meteorologist, to monitor media reports, weather information and field reports. It also calls for burying about two miles of overhead power lines in critical safety areas in Lahaina as a pilot project, which will inform planning for future efforts to bury lines in Lahaina and other areas.

Putting lines underground has been a frequent request of the community as the town rebuilds and Hawaiian Electric replaces burned poles in the same locations. The company has said the cost and time it would take to bury all the lines in Lahaina could slow the recovery. But the utility also said it will continue conversations with the community about the issue.

McNeff said it’s a “continuing effort” for Hawaiian Electric to be “best in class for wildfire mitigation.” He pointed out that some West Coast utilities have been doing fire mitigation for more than a decade. Hawaiian Electric has been participating in their monthly wildfire meetings, learning what they can.

“Safety has always been a top priority for Hawaiian Electric,” but the company has put a lot more effort into it the past two years with the increasing wildfire risk due to climate, McNeff said. “And we will continue to do that going forward. … Wildfire risk is a whole of society risk, and so it’s going to take all of us to manage it.”

*EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is the final in a four-part interview series with officials from the Maui Fire Department, Maui Police Department, Maui Emergency Management and Hawaiian Electric that will publish this week ahead of the two-year anniversary on Friday of the Lahaina and Upcountry wildfires.

Part 1 – Maui Fire Department: Two years after wildfires, Maui Fire Department’s changes to staffing, fleet, fire code aim to prevent another tragedy

Part 2 – Maui Police Department: Better tools for Maui Police Department since 2023 wildfires include new helicopter, rapid DNA machine

Part 3 – Maui Emergency Management Agency: Evacuation maps, new leadership, more staffing mark changes at Maui Emergency Management Agency after fires