Hawaiian Electric statement on Kahuku pole-cutting incident
Release Date: 10/18/2019
HONOLULU, Oct. 18, 2019 – Alan Oshima, president and CEO of Hawaiian Electric Company, issued the following statement about the cutting of a utility pole in Kahuku early today:
Our priority is always the safety of our customers and the safety of our employees. Cutting a utility pole is extremely dangerous and we’re lucky no one was killed or seriously hurt.
This reckless act of vandalism endangered the entire North Shore community. More than 1,000 residents were initially left without power and with the road blocked, police, fire and EMTs responding to an emergency would have been significantly delayed.
Our Hawaiian Electric repair crew was delayed for more than an hour in stalled traffic, extending the length of the outage and road closure. Thousands of residents were kept from getting to school and work.
I want to thank our Hawaiian Electric crews who responded safely and professionally in the early morning hours under challenging conditions to serve our customers.
