MECO Power Restoration Efforts Detailed

MECO workers file photo by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

Crews from Maui Electric Company worked to restore power to various parts of the county affected by outages over the last few days.  Below is a run-down of incidents and restoration efforts reported since Friday when high winds brought down trees and power lines in several parts of the island.

• Haleakalā Summit: Shortly after 8 a.m. on Friday, January 4, 2013, high winds brought trees down on power lines at Haleakalā, cutting off power to 10 customers at the summit. MECO officials say repairs were completed and power was restored at 4:15 p.m.
• Olinda and Piiholo: On Friday morning, January 4, 2013, approximately 100 customers in Olinda lost power when trees fell across power lines on Olinda Road. Power was restored by early afternoon; but shortly thereafter, another tree came down, cutting off power again to about 200 customers in Olinda and Piiholo. MECO crews worked through the night and all day Saturday trying to keep up with the high winds and falling trees. Power was restored incrementally throughout the day on Saturday with the last customers in the affected are brought back on-line at 5 p.m.
• Makawao: Approximately 150 customers in parts of Makawao lost power at 6:40 p.m. Friday, January 4, 2013, due to fallen trees.  MECO officials say power was restored to affected customers shortly after midnight.
• Huelo to Hana:  About 800 customers from Huelo to Hana lost power when trees came down on power lines near Kailua on the Hana Highway at around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 5, 2013.  MECO’s Distributed Generators at the Hana Substation provided power to about 300 customers in Hana during repairs. Officials say gusty winds hampered efforts, but crews were able to complete repairs and restore power to remaining customers on Sunday evening, January 6, 2013.
• Lahaina, Olowalu & Launiupoko:  About 400 customers lost power at around noon on Sunday, January 6, 2013 in the West Maui areas of Lahaina, Olowalu and Launiupoko. Power to affected customers was restored at 1 p.m.  A forced power outage was issued on Monday morning, January 7, 2013, in Ukumehame and from Ololwalu to Launiupoko to enable crews to safely replace four utility poles that came down late Sunday night, January 6, 2013.  Work was completed and power restored to 75 customers at 4:45 p.m.
• Molokai:  On Molokai, a tree fell across electrical lines at 8:42 a.m. on Sunday, January 6, 2013, near Kawela Bridge on the Kamehameha V Highway cutting off power to customers in East Molokai. The sudden loss of electrical power set in motion an automatic load shed procedure to protect the electrical system, which turned off power to customers in Hoolehua and Kualapuu. Approximately 400 customers in Hoolehua and Kualapuu were affected for an hour.  Power to those customers was restored by 9:40 a.m.  The estimated 900 customers that were affected by outages on the East End of the island had power restored at around 10 a.m.