#PSPS

With hurricane and wildfire season coming up, Hawaiian Electric hosts a West Maui Emergency Preparedness Open House event to help prepare residents and their communities on Saturday, May 3, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., at the Lahaina Intermediate School cafeteria. 

With hurricane and wildfire season coming up, Hawaiian Electric is hosting two emergency preparedness open house events to help prepare residents and their communities. One will be held Saturday, April 26 at the King Kekaulike High School Cafeteria. The other will be held Saturday, May 3, at the Lahaina Intermediate School Cafeteria.

Thousands of customers remain without power in Maui County including parts of Kula, Puʻukoliʻi, Makawao, Kūʻau to Hāna, and Haʻikū. Hawaiian Electric Company reports that crews are responding to multiple storm-related outages. About 6,500 customers out of about 72,000 are without power in Maui County, the majority in parts of Upcountry and North Shore areas on Maui due to fallen trees and branches on lines.

Hawaiian Electric is monitoring weather conditions across the state, which may lead to an increased risk of wildfires. This comes after the National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning due to a forecast of low humidity and strong winds through Thursday afternoon. If needed to protect public safety, Hawaiian Electric reports it may implement its Public Safety Power Shutoff program to proactively shut off power in communities with high exposure to wildfire risk.

Hawaiian Electric is continuing to monitor weather conditions across the leeward areas of the islands in light of the National Weather Service’s Red Flag Warning for Friday, Nov. 15. If necessary, Hawaiian Electric may implement its Public Safety Power Shutoff program within the next 24 hours and proactively shut off power in communities with high exposure to wildfire risk, company officials said on Thursday. Customers in these areas are urged to review their own emergency plans and prepare for the possibility of extended power outages.

Since launching its expanded wildfire safety strategy one year ago, Hawaiian Electric reports making significant improvements to reduce wildfire risk from its equipment. Actions include a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) program, replacing and testing thousands of utility poles, upgrading miles of overhead power lines, clearing instrusive vegetation near electrical equipment, and installing weather stations and AI-assisted high definition […]

With the National Weather Service’s cancellation of the red flag warning for all Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Electric has deactivated its Public Safety Power Shutoff watch. As a result, Hawaiian Electric did not shut off power to customers during the watch because of its PSPS program. Any power outages on Wednesday were unrelated to the PSPS program.

Hawaiian Electric reports the company is monitoring high winds and dry conditions across the state, which may lead to an increased risk of wildfires. If necessary, Hawaiian Electric may implement its Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) program to proactively shut off power in communities with high exposure to wildfire risk.

For nearly two decades, HNU Energy CEO Dan O’Connell has been quietly revolutionizing Maui’s solar scene, now claiming to have outdone the Tesla Powerwall with his HiVE Home Energy Storage Stackables.

Hawaiian Electric crews continue work to restore power to the remaining customers impacted by Tropical Storm Hone.

Hawaiian Electric has deployed observers (14 on Oʻahu, 22 on Maui, and 22 on Hawaiʻi Island) to monitor conditions and look out for any fire risks. Hawaiian Electric continues to monitor the approach of Tropical Storm Hone and for signs of any hazardous conditions with a red flag warning in effect for Leeward portions of the smaller Hawaiian Islands through 6 p.m. and a wind advisory in the forecast through 6 a.m. on Monday. 

The project includes the installation of 52 weather stations on four islands. The weather stations, mounted on Hawaiian Electric utility poles, will provide meteorological data that will help the company to decide whether to activate and deactivate a public safety power shutoff, or PSPS. Under the PSPS program launched July 1, Hawaiian Electric may preemptively shut off power in areas that are at high risk of wildfires during periods of forecast high winds and dry conditions.

Gov. Josh Green provided an update on the ongoing Maui wildfire recovery as the one year mark nears on Aug. 8, 2023. As of July 5, 2024, the state had cleared all individuals from the non-congregate sheltering (NCS) program at hotels; however, there were still 62 families that were finalizing their arrangements with the federal government to transition into longer-term housing. That’s down from the 3,071 families that were being accommodated in hotels in the aftermath of the wildfires.

Hawaiian Electric’s presentation will include information on general timing and cost components for various Maui projects and programs including: the planned Kahului Power Plant closure, proposed Mā‘alaea Power Plant unit retirements, status of new generation projects, current reserve margins, future infrastructure and reliability improvements, and Hawaiian Electric’s Public Safety Power Shutoff changes.

Hawaiian Electric Company will host Emergency Preparedness Open Houses in Upcountry and West Maui to discuss their Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) program. A separate event is planned in Central Maui as part of the Maui County Disaster Preparedness Expo.