Wind gusts likely cause of Hawaii Island power outage
Release Date: 7/8/2019
HILO, July 8, 2019 – About 51,000 Hawaii Electric Light customers in various areas around the island experienced a power outage at about 10:45 a.m. today.
Faults on two transmission lines along the Hamakua Coast disconnected independent power producer Hamakua Energy from the grid and caused a sudden loss of generation. Service to most customers was restored within 30 minutes and service to the remaining customers was restored by about 1:30 p.m.
The cause of the line faults is under investigation but it’s likely they were caused by wind gusts blowing tree debris onto lines. The National Weather Service wind advisory and flash flood watch continue through tonight.
Hawaii Electric Light urges the community to keep safety top of mind. Steady rain and flooding can uproot trees and break branches which could fall on power lines and snap utility poles. Always assume that downed power lines are energized and dangerous and stay at least 30 feet away.
Report downed lines and power outages to the Trouble Desk at (808) 969-6666. Outage information and updates are posted on Hawaii Electric Light’s Twitter account @HIElectricLight.
