HECO working to restore power to 10K West Maui residents
WEST MAUI (HawaiiNewsNow) — The Hawaiian Electric Company says it may shut off power to more communities as strong winds continue, with thousands of West Maui customers already without power since Monday night.
HECO said Tuesday that areas with high wildfire risk, including South Kohala on Hawaii Island and Upcountry Maui, may lose power within the next day as part of the Public Safety Power Shutoff program.
Thousands in West Maui lose power
The program has already been implemented in West Maui. Inspections and damage assessments are underway.
“The top priority is to keep our communities, our customers safe. So we turn off the power preemptively in hazardous weather conditions and these hazardous weather conditions can include wind gusts that are higher than 45 miles per hour, and humidity levels below 45%, and that’s exactly what we saw last night in West Maui,” said Shayna Decker, HECO spokesperson.
Officials say the power was turned off Monday at around 8:30 p.m. after a weather-related outage impacted 8,800 customers.
As wind speeds increased to 80 miles per hour and humidity dropped, HECO decided to turn off power to its remaining circuits serving 1,200 West Maui customers.
“Mahalo for the continued patience and understanding of our customers, our community. This is for everyone’s safety and so we really just mahalo everyone for taking precautions,” Decker said.
Decker said the power will remain off until weather conditions improve and crews can make necessary repairs.
“We understand the frustration of our residents and our customers and our visitors. That’s why we really appreciate the understanding that public safety power shutoffs are for safety and we urge folks to stay informed,” she said.
View updates on HECO’s outage map.
Water service may be impacted
If HECO implements the PSPS program in South Kohala, then residents must prepare for limited water use, said the Department of Water Supply.
DWS relies on HECO’s power grid to operate its wells and booster pumps, and it cannot be fully replicated by backup generators.
To prevent water depletion, DWS says it will likely restrict or ration potable water for fire protection, drinking, cooking, and personal hygiene purposes only.
Non-essential water uses, like car washing and irrigation, would need to be suspended.
Customers can find ways to store drinking water on DWS’ website.
DWS can be contacted at (808) 961-8050 during business hours and (808) 961-8790 for after-hours emergencies, or by emailing dws@hawaiidws.org.
Residents urged to prepare for extended outages
Customers on Maui and Hawaii Island are asked to initiate their own emergency plans and prepare for possible extended power outages.
Weather-related outages may still occur, said HECO.
Sylvia La Piana lost her home in the 2023 Lahaina fire disaster. She currently lives in a modular home on her property off Lahainaluna Road. She said the wind on Monday night retraumatized her.
“I just felt the place tremble … and I was worried,” she said. “We comforted each other, encouraged each other that this home is strong enough to hold the gusty winds.”
“I cried last night,” said La Piana’s sister Diane Agdeppa, who lives next door. “We just gotta be strong.”
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