Hurricane-force wind and rain are slowing the Heco Power Outage response across Hawaiian Electric's service area, and some customers on Hawaiʻi Island and in Maui County are set to stay without electricity at least overnight. Crews have been working around the clock, but the weather is forcing them to stop when conditions become too dangerous.
That matters now because the outage map is still shifting as the storm moves west, with work continuing on Hawaiʻi Island, in Maui County and on Oʻahu until the weather pushes crews to shelter. Hawaiian Electric said more than 67,100 customers across the five islands it serves have had power restored today, while more than 42,000 customers across its service territory were back on line as of the latest update.
At 1:10 p.m., 3,027 customers were still without power in Kaiola Place, Ohukai Road and Piʻilani. The company said hazardous roadway conditions on Hawaiʻi Island, including flooding and downed trees, have prompted Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense Agency to ask crews to stay off the roads, cutting into repair time just as teams try to move from restoration to damage checks and permanent fixes.
The storm has also taken four of Hawaiian Electric's independent power providers off the grid on Hawaiʻi Island because of damage, a complication that goes beyond ordinary outage work. Puna Geothermal Venture, Hāmākua Energy Partners, Hāwī Renewable Development and Pakini Nui are unable to connect to the island grid, and Hawaiian Electric said it may need to load shed on Hawaiʻi Island to keep the system stable and prevent damage to generating units. Any temporary forced outages would affect only Hawaiian Electric customers on Hawaiʻi Island and would not be part of the company's Public Safety Power Shutoff program.
Hawaiian Electric said extra crews from other electric utilities are expected as early as Tuesday, which should help speed restoration once the weather clears. But the key limiting factor is still the same one today: repairs cannot finish until the storm eases, the damage is fully assessed and the roads are safe enough for workers to get in and stay there.
