Hawaiian Electric may initiate brief rolling outages on Hawaii Island due to generation shortfall
Customers asked to continue to conserve electricity this month
Release Date: 4/15/2024
HILO, April 15, 2024 – Hawaiian Electric may initiate rolling outages in parts of Hawaii Island this morning, and possibly this evening, due to a generation shortfall and lower than normal wind and solar resources.
The brief emergency outages may be initiated around the island starting as early as 6 a.m. to prevent loss of power to an even greater number of customers. The impacted areas and the timing of the outages are based on the amount of electric demand that needs to be reduced.
Last night, 21,557 customers around the island experienced a 30-minute outage starting at 8:54 p.m. and ending at 9:59 p.m.
Hawaiian Electric’s Hill 5 steam unit tripped offline Saturday. Its Puna steam unit and CT-1 combustion turbine unit also are under repair. Its Keahole CT-5 unit is expected to return from annual overhaul by the end of April. These units generate about 62 megawatts combined. In addition, independent power producer Hamakua Energy remains offline. The island’s largest generator provides up to 60 megawatts to the grid.
Alerts and updates will be posted on the company’s Facebook (HawaiianElectric) and X (@HIElectricLight) accounts. The Hawaii County Civil Defense also will send emergency alerts through local radio and its Everbridge emergency notification system.
