Hawai’i Electric Light: 13,000 Lose Power, Cause Under Investigation

Hawai’i Electric Light’s Hilo office on Kilauea Avenue. File photo by Dave Smith.

About 13,000 Hawai’i Electric Light customers around the Big Island lost power for a brief period of time on Wednesday.

Hawai’i Electric Light spokeswoman Kristen Okinaka told Big Island Now that the brief power outage lasted approximately nine minutes, beginning at 12:29 p.m. The power interruption mainly affected West Hawai’i customers, but was felt as far East as Pahala.

“It was an under-frequency load shed, basically automatic load shedding,” Okinana said, citing a filed company report. She said it was “related to sudden loss of generation.”

What caused the sudden loss of generation remains under investigation by Hawai’i Electric Light crews.