Hawaiian Electric Asks Big Island Customers to Continue Reducing Electricity Use Through Saturday

Hawaiian Electric is asking its Big Island customers to continue limiting their use of electricity in the early evenings through Saturday, Sept. 3.

Rolling outages were not initiated Wednesday, Aug. 31, on Hawai‘i Island thanks to conservation efforts by residential and business customers and sufficient wind generation.

Customers are asked to continue conserving power from 5-9 p.m. through Saturday to ensure enough power is available during those hours. Conservation methods include turning off air conditioners and unnecessary lighting, shutting off water heaters and delaying activities such as cooking, showering, laundry and dishwashing.

Since Monday, customer conservation efforts have prevented the need to initiate rolling 30-minute outages.

The request for conservation was prompted by the unexpected shutdown of the island’s largest independent power producer, Hamakua Energy, because of the unavailability of ammonia used for pollution control at its facility in Honoka‘a. Hawaiian Electric’s Hill Plant Unit No. 5 and Puna Steam Plant also are unavailable because of planned annual maintenance and repairs.

These three plants normally generate 89 megawatts for the Hawai‘i Island grid.

In addition, wind resources are forecast to be lower than usual.

If necessary, rolling outages will be initiated to protect the electric system and prevent loss of power to an even greater number of customers. Hawaiian Electric will notify customers in advance through social media.

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