Hawaiian Electric restoration efforts continue
Hawaiian Electric is continuing restoration work to rebuild portions of the electric system in Lahaina to ensure power to West Maui customers following the August 2023 wildfires.
Image for illustration purposes.
USA, Maui: Hawaiian Electric is continuing restoration work to rebuild portions of the electric system in Lahaina to ensure power to West Maui customers following the August 2023 wildfires.
The efforts include the rebuilding of transmission and distribution lines along former routes in the Lahaina area with the installation of new interim steel poles and electrical equipment. The company says the interim infrastructure will help to maintain service, providing back-up routes of power to Lahaina and other parts of West Maui, including neighborhoods in Puʻukoliʻi, Māhinahina, Nāpili, Kā‘anapali, and Kapalua. The repairs of this transmission line and related distribution infrastructure should be completed in 2024, but until then, West Maui customers may experience extended outages because power cannot currently be rerouted from other circuits.
Restoration work involves the installation of about 70 new steel poles, rated for current regulated utility safety standards. They will replace the wood poles that were part of the former transmission and distribution route in the area. Some of the original wood poles on the route were damaged during the August 2023 windstorm and wildfires. Crews are also continuing repairs to restore power to less than 10 customers in Lahaina, while all other properties that can have power restored have been brought back online in West Maui.
Work was completed on the construction of underground electrical infrastructure to support the installation of a substation transformer at the company’s Lahainaluna Substation. This helped to improve service reliability to several areas formerly supported by the Lahaina Substation, which was destroyed during the wildfires. It also enabled the removal of one of two mobile substations installed to temporarily serve these areas.
Source: Maui Now