Power back to more than 80 percent of KIUC members
LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative was able to restore approximately 1,850 additional customers between Saturday and Sunday.
Pocket outages remain in portions of Anahola, Kapa‘a, Wailua, Lihu‘e, Po‘ipu, ‘Oma‘o, Kalaheo, Lawa‘i, Hanapepe, and Kaumakani, according to a KIUC press release. Koke‘e also remains without power.
On Sunday, approximately 81 percent of KIUC’s members have been restored, compared to 76 percent on Saturday.
Most of the 8,000-plus members still without power are located on the North Shore between Moloaa and Haena, and there are also scattered pocket outages from Anahola to Kekaha.
KIUC said it hopes to make “substantial progress” in restoring power to all members over the next few days, especially with the arrival of approximately 100 personnel from Hawaiian Electric Co., Southern Cal Edison and HMS Construction Inc. who were assisting with post-Hurricane Lala power restoration efforts on Hawaii Island.
The state partnered with the U.S. Air Force, the Hawaii National Guard, HECO and the California company to coordinate the redeployment, including moving six trucks, crews and equipment from Southern Cal Edison to Kauai Saturday.
“Getting these machines to Hawaii for Lala is now also helping us to reduce suffering on Kauai,” Gov. Josh Green told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Saturday. “I simply decided that we had to do everything possible to shorten the time to recovery, and partnering with the military and utilizing our National Guard on the ground has been a major addition to our state and county efforts.”
An Air Force crew flying a Hickam-based C-17 Globemaster III heavy-lift plane transported the first load of trucks and crews from Hilo to Lihue Saturday, to be followed by a second airlift Sunday.
Green called the operation an “incredible partnership with our military ohana to get this large equipment to Kauai to even further accelerate the recovery with Mayor (Derek) Kawakami.”
It required coordination between the U.S. Pacific Command, Pacific Air Forces, the Hawaii National Guard, Southern California Edison and Hawaiian Electric.
The operation to help restore power to the Big Island following Hurricane Lala began Aug. 23 when an Air Force crew flew a C-17 Globemaster III to March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County east of Los Angeles to pick up the first load of six Southern California Edison utility repair trucks, a support trailer and crews for the first of two missions. The goal was to avoid a long, trans-Pacific voyage in order to get power back up to Hawaii Island quicker.
Now the Southern California Edison crews and equipment will help restore power to Kauai.
“I went to the top military leadership to make sure we got this equipment there,” Green said.
In a written statement, Hawaii Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. Stephen Logan said, “I feel the State of Hawaii Department of Defense is extremely fortunate to be located in such proximity to U.S. Pacific Command and the Pacific Air Forces which enables a rapid response and unity of effort in times of crisis.”
North Shore update
KIUC line crews, along with personnel from HECO, addressed repairs to transmission poles on the Hanalei side of Hanalei Bridge Sunday. The work required a lane closure of Kuhio Highway that began Sunday morning.
The Hawai‘i National Guard provided escort assistance for crews and materials. The State of Hawai‘i Department of Transportation also assisted with vegetation/debris clearing activities in Princeville.
The Kaua‘i Police Department has been providing overnight security for equipment and materials as the North Shore work continues.
Based on observations and work completed over the past four days, the first restorations for North Shore members are expected to take place early this week, according to KIUC’s President and CEO David Bissell.
He noted that these initial restorations will likely be concentrated in portions of Kilauea, Princeville and Hanalei.
“We will know much more in the next couple of days as we gauge the progress of our crews,” Bissell said.
Generation resources
All of Kaua‘i’s large conventional generation units at Port Allen and Kapaia are back to pre-storm operational status and are adequate to keep the island powered for the foreseeable future.
Additionally, the following power sources are operational and available for meeting power demand: Tesla Solar+Storage facility and AES Lawa‘i Solar+Storage Facility.
More information on restoration efforts and links to additional resources can be found on KIUC’s website.
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The Star-Advertiser contributed to this story.