The unfolding aftermath of the Lahaina wildfire is filled with heartache and tragic tales of loss. It’s also become a time of growing confusion over what was, and wasn’t, done by Maui’s biggest entities and leaders. Now two of them, Maui County and Hawaiian Electric (HECO), are engaged in legal conflict over the cause and culprits of the inferno — an extremely disturbing turn of events that cannot be allowed to hinder recovery for West Maui’s people in any way.
At the crux of the blame game is Maui County’s lawsuit filed Thursday against HECO, contending the utility was “negligent” for not cutting electricity to the grid amid forecasts of up-to-60 mph wind gusts and a “red flag” warning for high brush fire risk. The county also alleges that fallen live power lines ignited the disaster with an afternoon flare-up, and that HECO had failed to maintain its equipment sufficiently. It seeks payment for damage to public property, lost revenue and expenses for emergency response and recovery.
That is major fingerpointing from a government entity that itself is under fire for failing to sound emergency sirens as towering flames approached Lahaina. In fact, Maui County is starting to be sued, too.
Last Sunday, HECO pushed back against Maui’s claims of the wildfire’s cause. It was a needed public statement from the embattled utility, which has seen its stock plummet and financial future questioned now that a dozen lawsuits have been filed against it — by Maui County, investors and families who have lost loved ones and property.
It will be for the courts to determine culpability — and whether to believe HECO’s version of events. The utility acknowledges that while the Aug. 8 morning fire was apparently caused by power lines downed by high winds, that blaze was reported “100% contained” by the Maui Fire Department and later declared “extinguished.”
New, though, was HECO’s contention that all of its West Maui power lines had been “de-energized” for more than six hours before a second fire started about 3 p.m. — the afternoon fire that quickly grew and incinerated Lahaina, killing at least 115, destroying more than 2,200 buildings and causing $5.6 billion in damage.
In what is now the deadliest U.S. wildfire in modern times, with massive losses and money involved, blame deflection isn’t surprising. But it’s still unsettling — particularly with many still suffering and so much recovery ahead, which will rely on those in charge to work well together, not be adversaries.
“We were surprised and disappointed that the County of Maui rushed to court even before completing its own investigation,” Hawaiian Electric CEO Shelee Kimura said in a news release. “We believe the complaint is factually and legally irresponsible. … Unfortunately, the county’s lawsuit may leave us no choice in the legal system but to show its responsibility for what happened that day.”
Any legal animosity cannot be allowed to exacerbate an already difficult recovery for West Maui. It’s a precarious time, when coordination and cooperation — not antagonism and self-interested agendas — will be essential to getting things done quicker and more efficiently.
As for more light and transparency on Aug. 8’s chain of events, the public hopes to soon have good, unbiased information from investigations by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and by the state attorney general’s third-party assessor.
Whatever happens in the courts, change surely will come to energy policy and operations here — and that likely will affect ratepayers. Talk already is swirling about consequences such as instituting public safety power shut-offs during fire-danger weather conditions; undergrounding power lines; even making Hawaiian Electric a customer-owned nonprofit cooperative.
Financial and energy reliability considerations will come into play. But whatever reforms are pressed at the 2024 Legislature and the state Public Utilities Commission, ratepayers will need to weigh in. Improving wildfire risk mitigations and safety operations will come at a cost, and there will be impacts on customers.
