More than a year after the deadly Maui wildfires, Hawaiian Electric (HECO) announced that operational changes, new technology and Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) have led to an estimated 60% reduction in wildfire risk from utility equipment.
HECO’s actions include introducing a PSPS program, replacing and testing thousands of utility poles, upgrading miles of overhead power lines, clearing intrusive vegetation near electrical equipment and installing weather stations and AI-assisted high definition video cameras.
“There is no question that wildfires remain a persistent threat to our communities and we are taking that threat seriously,” Jim Alberts, Hawaiian Electric senior vice president and chief operations officer. “We continue to invest in new technology and upgrades to our infrastructure to make the grid more resilient, improve reliability and address growing risks from wildfires and other hazards.”
Hawaiian Electric has been working with Filsinger Energy Partners, an independent energy advisory firm that specializes in wildfire mitigation strategies and risk modeling, since early 2024. Filsinger estimates that the various wildfire risk mitigation actions and programs implemented by Hawaiian Electric have reduced the risk of wildfire from the utility’s equipment by approximately 60%.
Hawaiian Electric is spending about $120 million in 2024 to make wildfire safety improvements in four areas:
Foundational work
HECO has developed wildfire risk maps based on the potential of ignition by utility equipment, conducted inspections of circuits in high-risk areas to prioritize hardening work, and continued ongoing vegetation management efforts in areas adjacent to power lines on all islands, spending $100 million in the last four years.
Additionally, the utility is installing 3,534 fire-safe fuses to reduce the risk of ignition, and 1,071 new lightning arrestors to further protect equipment from lightning strikes.
Operational changes
In addition to the launch of the PSPS program, HECO started deployment of spotters in risk areas during hazardous weather conditions and set circuit breakers to automatically shut off power in risk areas when a disturbance is detected on a circuit.
Situational awareness
HECO has installed a network of 53 weather stations in wildfire-prone areas on four islands to provide information about wind, temperature and humidity to help the company better predict and respond to fire weather conditions. The weather stations, mounted on utility poles, provide meteorological data that will help the company decide whether to activate and deactivate a PSPS.
The utility also started installation of a network of 78 artificial intelligence-assisted high-definition video cameras to help quickly detect wildfires.
Grid hardening
HECO has replaced and upgraded 2,202 utility poles; replaced more than 16 miles of older overhead lines with new, more resilient lines; and installed 4,514 single-phase fault current indicators, which allow crews to more quickly locate disturbances on lines in high-risk areas.
In addition, Hawaiian Electric is working with community partners on wildfire safety projects, such as the construction of a firebreak at Leihōkū Elementary in Wai‘anae. The project was completed in August and included the removal of more than 1,000 feet of kiawe trees and grasses on Department of Hawaiian Home Lands property.
In the first moments of the Maui fires, when high winds brought down power poles, slapping electrified wires to the dry grass below, there was a reason the flames erupted all at once in long, neat rows — those wires were bare, uninsulated metal that could spark on contact.
As investigators sifted through blackened debris to explain the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, one fact became clear: Hawaiian Electric’s right-of-way was untrimmed and unkempt for years, despite being in an area classified as being at high risk for wildfires.
Compounding the problem is that many of the utility’s 60,000, mostly wooden power poles, which its own documents described as built to “an obsolete 1960s standard,” were leaning and near the end of their projected lifespan. They were nowhere close to meeting a 2002 national standard that key components of Hawaii’s electrical grid be able to withstand 105-mile-per-hour winds.
In May 2024, Hawaiian Electric said it would launch the Public Safety Power Shutoff program on July 1 as part of the utility’s effort to reduce the risk of wildfire. The program expands Hawaiian Electric’s Wildfire Safety Strategy. As part of this program, Hawaiian Electric may preemptively shut off power in certain areas it has identified as high risk during periods of forecasted high winds and dry conditions. The utility called the program its “last line of defense to keep communities safe.” As a result, customers may experience extended power outages, they said.
Since July 2024, Hawaiian Electric customers can now use a new online search feature to determine if their address is within the high-risk wildfire areas within the company’s public safety power shutoff program (PSPS).
In July 2024, Hawaiian Electric announced it was deploying high-resolution cameras equipped with artificial intelligence for early wildfire detection. The utility is installing two high-resolution cameras at 78 locations across the five islands. The cameras will provide the utility with a full 360-degree view of areas with elevated wildfire risk and can be accessed by the public.
Hawaiian Electric signed a five-year contract with ALERTWest, which was developed in collaboration with UC San Diego’s ALERTCalifornia team, California utilities, and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The utility said about half of the $14 million project cost will be covered by federal grants for wildfire mitigation under the bipartisan infrastructure law.
ALERTWest’s software platform is assisted by AI to detect smoke and other early indications of a fire in real time. The company recently partnered with the University of Oregon and the University of Nevada, Reno, creating the largest publicly available, interoperable, AI wildfire detection system in the United States.
In early August 2024, Hawaiian Electric reached an agreement to pay nearly half of a $4 billion settlement to support victims of the Maui wildfires. It appears the deal will allow Hawaiian Electric to avoid bankruptcy. Hawaiin Electric has admitted that downed powerlines initially caused the fires, which are blamed for killing more than 100 people and damaging thousands of buildings. The settlement, however, did not include any admission of liability.
This article contains reporting from the Associated Press.
