The promise came directly from President Joe Biden: On Aug. 30, he announced that the federal government would allocate $95 million to upgrade Hawaiian Electric’s energy grids.
For some portions of Maui’s grid, ravaged by the Aug. 8 fire that destroyed Lahaina, “upgrade” is a kind word — and a vast understatement. The fire was so hot and destructive that some portions of the grid must be rebuilt altogether.
The $95 million could be used to “harden” the electric grid maintained by Hawaiian Electric (HECO) on Maui, Biden suggested — making the system more resilient by, for example, placing power lines underground, replacing wooden poles with stronger steel poles and installing “smart” meters, which can provide real-time information to the energy provider about power outages or other disruptions of the grid.
HECO issued a simultaneous announcement, noting that the federal funding would be enough to pay half the estimated cost of its proposed, statewide Climate Adaptation Transmission and Distribution Resilience Program — a plan to upgrade HECO’s grids against threats caused by global warming. Those include more extreme, less predictable weather events, higher seas and coastal erosion.
HECO’s climate adaptation proposal includes proposed “hardening” or strengthening of transmission lines and critical or at-risk overhead poles, hazardous tree removal and wildfire prevention, along with risk modeling to better predict dangers and other steps. It was submitted to the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in June 2022, with an estimated cost of $190 million.
It’s likely, however, that HECO’s proposal will need modifications. The devastating fire in West Maui and damage in Upcountry Maui have created a need to divert resources to these areas. Further, the calculations used by HECO to decide what upgrades are needed, and where, must be re-evaluated.
HECO’s current proposal lists undergrounding of “select overhead distribution lines” as an Oahu-only consideration. It also lists upgrading power-distribution circuits so that there is redundant transformer capacity as a Maui-only fix. But the Lahaina fires create a different calculus of priorities.
As President Biden’s statement makes clear, undergrounding poles in precarious positions on West Maui is a top-of-mind safety improvement for most observers in the wake of the Lahaina fire. Yet until the fire, HECO did not find it urgent to strengthen and harden poles and overhead lines, or to move lines underground. That’s a strong indication that the utility — and the PUC, which watchdogs HECO’s plans, spending and costs to consumers — underestimated the risk of fire and the costs to be incurred if a damaging blaze appeared.
Should a risk-versus-cost analysis take place now, as Maui faces more than $5 billion in losses for Lahaina properties alone, a different bottom line would emerge.
HECO and state regulators must look beyond minimum protections in planning for resilience. As has been done in California, site of the deadly Camp Fire in Paradise, the use of multiple layers of protection may be called for in the most high-risk areas. It’s vital that HECO incorporate up-to-date best practices in all aspects of its program.
A sense of urgency must now apply to this task of re-evaluating risks and costs. With the assurances of the federal government that $95 million is promised to help pay for required fixes, there is no excuse for delay.
HECO has promised to work cooperatively with Maui County and the state to support those who have been affected by loss of power, in the burn zone and beyond. It must now deliver on that promise by immediately reopening its proposal, in coordination with the PUC, and then moving forward to repair and strengthen its power delivery system so that it reduces risks for residents in all of its service areas.
