In the wake of the 2023 Lahaina wildfire, Hawaiian Electric released on Monday a three-year fire-safety plan detailing how the company will reduce the chances of electric infrastructure causing a fire in the future.
The 179-page document expands upon the company’s 2019 fire safety blueprint, which was most recently updated in 2023 shortly after the Lahaina disaster, and lists a series of strategies to update company practices and infrastructure throughout the state.
The plan covers Hawaiian Electric’s fire safety policies between this year and the end of 2027, and is estimated to cost about $450 million to implement. The company has announced that $137 million has been budgeted for work this year, while other funding sources, including federal grants, are being pursued.
According to a projected cost breakdown, about $34 million will be spent on the Big Island this year, the vast majority of which will go toward grid hardening measures such as replacing wooden power poles with metal ones, using heavy-duty insulators in places of highest risk, and the like. By the end of the 2027, the plan estimates that more than $117 million will be spent on the Big Island.
“(The plan) is not just a technical roadmap, it is our shared and steadfast commitment to a safer, more resilient Hawaii,” said Shelee Kimura, president and CEO of Hawaiian Electric, in a statement. “Through collective action and thoughtful approaches, Hawaii can create a fire-safe environment for generations to come.”
According to the plan itself, Hawaiian Electric estimates that the new strategy will reduce fire risk by 68-72% by 2027.
The plan includes a detailed risk assessment that ranked which power grid circuits carry the greatest fire risk. Of the 20 highest-ranked circuits, eight are on the Big Island, with a Waikoloa circuit ranked fourth, behind three Maui circuits.
The preferred mitigation strategies for reducing the risk of the Waikoloa circuit include moving power lines underground — the most expensive solution — improved systems that can de-energize a power grid more quickly when a fault is detected, and the Public Safety Power Shutoff Program, which proactively shuts down power in an area where weather conditions have elevated the risk of a fire.
Hawaiian Electric touted on Monday the progress it has already made toward hardening power grids statewide. For example, the company has already replaced more than 2,000 wooden poles statewide, installed 53 weather stations in wildfire-prone areas — 15 of which are on the Big Island — and installed 44 AI-assisted cameras.
The plan also goes into island-specific detail about the results of public outreach efforts over the last year. On the Big Island, Hawaiian Electric noted community concerns about the impact of the PSPS program on customers reliant on medical equipment that would be deactivated by an emergency power shutoff. More than 15,000 customers are estimated to live in a PSPS area on the island, which include parts of Kailua-Kona, Waikoloa, Kohala and the Maunakea Forest Reserve.
However, the plan concludes that Big Island communities now “understand that PSPS is the last line of defense,” and that public awareness of the program had increased from 11% to 64% on the island in just four months last year.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.