Following deadly fire, Hawaii utility plans to proactively cut power when risk is high

Nearly two years after 101 people on the Hawaiian island of Maui were killed by fires that were initially caused by downed powerlines, the state’s primary utility has unveiled a plan to proactively cut power to areas where fire risk is high.

Hawaiian Electric said it will launch the Public Safety Power Shutoff program on July 1 as part of the utility’s effort to reduce the risk of wildfire. The programme expands Hawaiian Electric’s Wildfire Safety Strategy.

As part of this programme, Hawaiian Electric may preemptively shut off power in certain areas it has identified as high risk during periods of forecasted high winds and dry conditions. The utility called the programme its “last line of defense to keep communities safe.” As a result, customers may experience extended power outages, they said.

“We understand shutting off power can create hardships for affected customers, so this is not something we take lightly,” said Jim Alberts, Hawaiian Electric senior vice president and chief operations officer.

The programme will initially start with a handful of predetermined high-risk areas, which includes several locations in Maui County serving approximately 26,100 customers. Hawaiian Electric intends to expand the program to cover all high-risk areas they serve.

The programme will only be activated in an area if weather data, including statements from the National Weather Service, indicate conditions for heightened wildfire risk. These conditions may include strong winds, low humidity and dry vegetation.

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Before activating a shutoff, Hawaiian Electric will notify the public and coordinate with government officials, first responders and emergency response agencies, they said. The utility will provide public notifications through news releases, social media, online outage maps and updates to its website. If weather conditions change suddenly, shutoff may occur with little or no notice.

During an activation, power will remain shut off as long as hazardous weather conditions persist. When the weather improves, power lines must be inspected and any damage must be repaired before service can be restored. This may involve ground crews and aerial inspections using helicopters and drones, Hawaiian Electric said. This process may result in extended outages lasting several hours, possibly even days depending on the location and extent of any damage.

In February, the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission approved Hawaiian Electric’s $190 million Climate Adaptation Transmission and Distribution Resilience Program application, which the utility said is meant to help defend against the increasing threat of wildfires and harden its five island electric grids against severe weather-related events fueled by climate change.

The decision enabled Hawaiian Electric to move forward with $95 million in funding granted under the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) by matching it with $95 million to come from customers.

Hawaiian Electric’s 5-year plan includes a slate of initial, foundational grid resilience investments, including the replacement and strengthening of 2,100 poles on critical circuits, as the first phase of a long-term climate adaptation effort. Investing in a more resilient power system will address the increasing threat of wildfires, reduce the severity of damage when major events happen and enable service to be restored more quickly, the utility said.

Hawaiin Electric has admitted that the initial cause of the Maui fires were downed powerlines. Many of the utility’s 60,000, mostly wooden power poles, which its own documents described as built to “an obsolete 1960s standard,” were leaning and near the end of their projected lifespan. They were nowhere close to meeting a 2002 national standard that key components of Hawaii’s electrical grid be able to withstand 105-mile-per-hour winds.

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency recently named wildfires as the top hazard in the state as part of its statewide hazard mitigation plan. Ongoing drought conditions, vegetation and potential impacts to the community, cultural resources, and economy were all factors that contributed to the ranking. In that report, HiEMA noted that statistically there is a 100% chance of wildfires occurring in Hawaii in any given year with an average of 12 events per year.

Originally published on Power Grid International.