Hawaiian Electric asks for continued patience on power restorations on Maui
Crews repairing multiple downed poles, power lines due to high winds
Release Date: 8/9/2023
KAHULUI, Aug. 9, 2023, 12 p.m. – Hawaiian Electric is asking for continued patience from affected West Maui and Upcountry customers without power and for affected customers to plan for extended outages as access to many impacted areas is limited due to safety and emergency response concerns.
"We are all hands on deck in supporting and responding to Maui communities affected by the outages, active wildfires, and sustained high wind damage," said Shayna Decker, Hawaiian Electric spokesperson. "Our focus right now is the safety of our communities, customers, and workforce and prioritizing power restoration to areas that our crews can safely access. We continue to actively monitor the fluid wildfire situation and will move our restoration efforts to other areas if and as they become safe and accessible. We appreciate the continued understanding and ask customers to please prepare for possible extended outages as we conduct damage assessments and make extensive repairs."
Additional crews from Oahu have been deployed to assist with massive restoration efforts, and the company's Incident Management Team continues to coordinate closely with Hawaii's Emergency Management Agency and other emergency response organizations.
In the Upcountry area, crews restored parts of Kula to Kanaio this morning and are currently making repairs to more than 30 spans of downed power lines to bring remaining customers back online in the Olinda-Piiholo and other pocket areas around Kula Highway.
In West Maui, approximately 12,400 customers remain offline, as crews are currently assessing additional damage due to the wildfire and working to repair multiple downed poles and spans of power lines in various areas.
As a reminder, if you see a downed power line, assume it is energized and dangerous. Stay away from downed power lines – at least 30 feet or more (at least two car lengths). Report downed lines immediately by calling Hawaiian Electric's Trouble Line at 808-871-7777.
