UPDATE: Hawai’i Electric Light Says Outage Effected 16,900 Customers
***Updated at 4:10 p.m. to include additional information from Hawai’i Electric Light.***
A Tuesday morning outage affected an estimated 16,900 customers, according to Hawai’i Electric Light.
A transmission line fell near Pahala, causing the outage.
Hawai’i Electric officials say that another transmission line was out of service to allow crews to perform maintenance work.
When the line fell, it caused a disconnect with the Kamaoa Wind Farm, causing a situation where not enough power was accessible to meet the demand of consumers.
“Hawai’i Electric Light sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience caused by this interruption,” said Hawai’i Electric Light spokesperson Rhea Lee-Moku. “We appreciate everyone’s understanding.”
***Updated at 12:45 p.m. to include additional information.***
***Original story published at 12:05 p.m.***
A downed Hawai’i Electric Light power line has caused a single lane closure along Highway 11 between mile markers 59 and 60.
As of 11:40 a.m., about 445 customers from Punalu’u to Naalehu Mill Road were without power, according to the company.
The Hawai’i Police Department reports that the Hilo-bound lane is current closed and that traffic is being contraflowed via the Kona-bound lane.
Hawai’i Electric Light crews are on scene tending to the downed line.
Stay with BigIslandNow.com as we follow the road closure and outage.