Hawaiian Electric has known for years that severe weather is becoming a greater risk, but the company has done little to bolster its equipment and has failed to adopt contingency plans used elsewhere, such as preparing for power cuts to prevent fires.
Before the wildfire raged in Maui on Aug. 8, killing more than 100 people, many parts of Hawaii Electric’s operations were showing signs of strain — and state lawmakers, consumer groups and county officials were saying the company needed to make big changes.
In 2019, Hawaiian Electric itself began citing fire risks. The company said that year that it was studying how California utilities could deal with similar threats.
Two years later, in a report on Typhoon Lane in 2018, the Maui provincial government warned It is possible that “power lines above ground that are faulty, shorted, or hanging low can cause ignition (sparks) that can start a wildfire, particularly in windy or stormy conditions.”
But the company didn’t ask government regulators to allow it to spend $190 million to stiffen power poles and other equipment until last year — a request that is still pending. Even when approved, the work will take several years to complete.
Attention turned to the company after a video, recorded Aug. 8, emerged that appeared to show a power line in Lahaina throwing sparks and igniting dry grass hours before the city’s blaze. In addition, data from sensors owned by a company called Whisker Labs seemed to show significant flaws in the company’s systems just as the wind caught.
“This is not a massively boosted system,” said Robert McCullough of McCullough Research, an energy consulting firm in Portland, Oregon, of Hawaiian Electric’s system. “It is not strengthened.”
Utility executives and regulators across the United States have been shocked by the ferocity and frequency of weather-related disasters in recent years, including several major wildfires in California and a 2021 winter storm in Texas that left much of the state without light or heat for several days. .
But energy experts say these misfortunes and their impact on electrical grids should come as no surprise. In many places, utilities have neglected to adequately maintain and improve electrical grids for decades, and regulators and lawmakers have largely ignored the other direction.
said Michael Wara, a researcher who focuses on climate and energy policy at Stanford University, who believes Hawaiian Electric could have done a lot more to prevent its equipment from becoming a potential fire cause. “But nature does not care that it is a protected monopoly. You need to act like a normal company that takes great risks.”
The industry has known for years that electrical equipment can start fires when high winds cause poles and power lines to break and collide with dry vegetation. Power lines can also start fires if they become overloaded because utilities haven’t upgraded them or put other preventive measures in place.
“Significant investments are being made in adaptation, hardening and resilience to help mitigate risk,” said Scott Aronson, senior vice president of security and preparedness at the Edison Electric Institute, a trade organization in the utility industry.
California electric utilities have had to pay billions of dollars to shoot victims in recent years. Hawaiian Electric may have to make big payments, too. At least four lawsuits were filed on behalf of Maui residents, and the company’s stock and bond prices plummeted.
In a securities filing Friday, Hawaiian Electric said it is consulting with advisors as it seeks “to hold as a strong financial benefit that Maui and this state need.”
Officials from the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, including an electrical engineer, help The Maui Fire Department determines the cause of the fire. The bureau is the primary federal agency that investigates fires and arson.
Hawaii Electric is a unique tool. Since the state consists of many islands spanning more than 1,500 miles, the company operates several electrical grids and imports fuel to operate power plants. As a result, the state has one of the highest electrification rates in the country. This makes it difficult for the company and the state to invest in expensive network upgrades.
“There was always a push and pull of how to pay for it,” the state senator said Gilbert SC Keith Agar Referring to plans to improve the electrical network. “Utilities don’t want to pay for that unless they can pass the cost on to ratepayers.”
The $190 million proposal by Hawaiian Electric to improve its grid would, among other things, replace old power poles with new ones, including 80 in Maui. Energy experts said many of the company’s poles may not have been strong enough to withstand the winds that batter Lahaina.
Some of the company’s columns are surrounded by invasive weeds that can become explosive in the dry season. Experts have long warned that not much is being done to prevent the spread and growth of weeds.
“A lot of our concerns were that this infrastructure was past due,” said Jennifer Potter, a former member of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission who lives in Maui, referring specifically to the poles. “Many of those who have been hacked have been compromised for years.”
Mrs. Potter left the commission in November after four years there.
The commission did not respond to a request for comment.
Hawaiian Electric said it has spent $111 million on vegetation management and $287 million on equipment replacement, grid reinforcement and inspections and using technology such as drones and laser images to monitor and control the grid since 2018.
“We will look at every decision we made, every tactic we used to address the threat of wildfires on Maui,” said Jim Kelly, a spokesman for the facility. “Outside voices speak with confidence about what happened and what we did or didn’t do, but the facts are that we took the threat seriously and faced an extraordinary weather event on August 8.”
But some experts say Hawaiian Electric should have done more.
Mr. Wara said Hawaiian Electric could have created a blackout program in consultation with local authorities and emergency services. In California, after warning residents and local officials, utilities cut electricity when high winds approached to reduce the chance of power lines catching fire.
Henry Curtis, executive director of Life of the Land, a nonprofit group in Hawaii that represents consumers before the state Public Utilities Commission, said he “strongly supports” power shutdown programs. He said the utility rejects the idea.
“We’ve been working on increasing climate change for more than two decades, and the benefit has been really slow to catch on,” said Mr. Curtis. “Hawaiian Electric sure knew Lahaina was their most vulnerable place. They’ve known that for years.”
Hawaiian Electric CEO Shelley Kimura said after the fire that the company did not cut power in Lahaina because the electricity was needed to keep water pumps and medical devices running.
“In Lahaina, electricity powers the pumps that provide the water — and so that was also a huge need during that time,” Kimura said at a news conference on Monday. “There are choices that need to be made — and all of these factors play into that.”
Many California residents have complained about shutdown programs. The facilities there have come up with ways to address some of the concerns raised by residents and Ms. Kimura. San Diego Gas & Electric is opening shelters with electricity to residents facing power outages. The utility also provides backup generators to run water pumps and other critical equipment.
Hawaii lawmakers have seen the growing threat of severe weather related to climate change, and have also taken measures to strengthen the grid. Having seen Puerto Rico’s vulnerabilities to Hurricane Maria in 2017, Lauren R. InoueSenator , Bill introduced in 2018 It aims to strengthen electrical equipment to better withstand natural disasters. The bill has not moved forward.
“If it had come into effect, today we would be in a better position,” she said.