HELCO Explains Sept. 2 Power Outage

Hawai‘i Electric Light reported that customers in portions of Hilo, Kea‘au, Puna, Honoka‘a, Kona, South Point, Waikoloa and Waimea experienced a power interruption early Sunday morning, Sept. 2, 2018.

An estimated 40,800 customers experienced a power interruption at 5:47 a.m. when a generating unit at independent power producer Hāmākua Energy Partners tripped offline unexpectedly followed by a combustion-turbine unit trip at Hawai‘i Electric Light’s Keahole Power Plant while it was responding to the sudden load changes.

Automated load-shedding, which is necessary to protect the island’s power grid, operated properly.

Alternate generation was started and service to most customers was restored within minutes. The remaining customers were restored by 6:50 a.m. The cause of all unit trips is under investigation.

Follow Hawai‘i Electric Light on Twitter @HIElectricLight for outage information and updates. To report a power outage, call (808) 969-6666.