For the first time ever, Hawaiian Electric (HECO) activated its new Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) program on Wednesday, and was on the cusp of cutting power preemptively to West Maui communities to reduce their high exposure to wildfire risk. At the last minute, luckily, the high risk abated so the power stayed on — but consider this an important, learned protocol from the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire that leveled Lahaina.

Such willingness and urgency to act must be the new vigilance norm for all governmental agencies and private entities responsible for public safety, now that the severity of wildfire dangers have been tragically realized. From HECO, to emergency officials and landowners, heightened awareness must translate into better preventative policies.

Such proaction, importantly, also must extend to the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC). Now that a key report has determined the cause of the Lahaina wildfires — sparked initially when HECO reenergized faulty power lines — the regulatory PUC must step up to firmly drive directives over wildfire mitigations and improve oversight. That includes sharper enforcement when utilities fall short, not business-as-usual administrative plodding.

For many months after the Maui fire disasters, the PUC has been largely on the sidelines, opting to let others such as the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigate the fires. It was an unsatisfying passive stance, since the PUC is the state agency directly responsible for overseeing, compelling and enforcing utilities’ compliance with regulations and operational standards. Salient questions about proper equipment maintenance, and overgrown brush maintenance, are under its purview.

At least it’s now encouraging that the PUC has issued more than 30 information requests to HECO, totaling nearly 200 questions, since opening a Jan. 23 non­docketed compliance investigation into the utility’s operations and equipment concerning the August 2023 Maui wildfires and two other Oahu blazes.

Also, the PUC finally has for review the ATF’s long-awaited cause-and-origin report, released Oct. 2 along with Maui Department of Fire and Public Safety findings. The report’s conclusion: The Lahaina wildfire was caused by sparks from downed power lines that were reenergized about 6:30 a.m. in overgrown vegetation that violated the county fire code, near Lahainaluna Road. Though the blaze was tamped and believed extinguished, red-flag warning winds carried embers into a gully and the fire was reignited soon after 3 p.m. — which quickly spread to incinerate Lahaina, killing at least 102 people, leaving hundreds homeless and causing more than $5.5 billion in damage.

Today, the necessity for better wildfire proactions is being underscored in real time. High fire-risk conditions — strong winds, dry fuels and low humidity — prompted the National Weather Service to issue Wednesday’s daylong red-flag warning for all of Hawaii’s leeward areas, and that led to HECO’s activation of the PSPS for West Maui.

HECO, now embroiled in myriad lawsuits over Lahaina, is endeavoring to adopt antifire best practices. In addition to the power shutoff plan, it is investing to reconfigure power lines to minimize sparking dangers; replace and retrofit equipment for fire resistance; improve inspections of poles and equipment, including with drones; and step up vegetation management near power lines.

All that is for the good — but as has become painfully clear, too much is at stake for public safety to leave wildfire mitigations to “trust us,” self-monitoring and vague oversight.

That’s why the PUC’s inquiries into HECO are weighty. They ask for the utility’s “procedures, records and forms, which cover issues such as pole integrity, compliance with National Electric Safety Code, operational protocols such as for de-energizing and re-energizing circuits and power lines, and inspections of transmission and distribution infrastructure,” a PUC spokeswoman said. All gathered data will go toward developing “technical requirements” for the state’s electric utilities; meanwhile, the PUC has issued “guidance orders” for HECO and Kauai’s power utility to file wildfire mitigation plans to it by January.

Sadly, too late for Lahaina. But for the sake of future public safety, lessons must be learned. Chief among them is that disasters don’t move at a bureaucratic pace, so improvements better be implemented quickly.