Question: President Biden said that intentional power outages to prevent more fires in L.A. contributed to the lack of water to fight the fires; without electricity, pumps couldn’t get the water to the hydrants. Could the same thing happen in Hawaii under Hawaiian Electric’s Public Safety Power Shutoff plan? People really need to know about this, and consider all the pros and cons and unintended consequences of any action in extreme fire conditions.
Answer: “It’s difficult to speculate about the specific impacts of a PSPS because each situation is unique. Hawaiian Electric does provide power to county water departments on the islands that we serve. We have been working closely with those county water departments, fire departments and other emergency responders so they can respond appropriately in the event of a PSPS. In addition, we provide as much advance notice as possible about potential PSPS events so the public and emergency response agencies can take action. We don’t have specific information about the county water departments’ emergency procedures, so you should direct any specific questions to them,” Darren Pai, a spokesperson for Hawaiian Electric, said Friday in an email.
We emailed the Honolulu Board of Water Supply on Friday, asking for a brief description of BWS’ emergency procedures to keep city water flowing to fire hydrants during a PSPS; we asked whether BWS has backup generators in place at all times. A spokesperson emailed Monday to say that she was preparing a response but that it wouldn’t be ready by deadline; we’ll publish it in a subsequent column.
The agency provides some information online, at boardofwatersupply.com/psps Opens in a new tab, where it says that “BWS operations — pumping and transporting water — rely on the commercial power delivered by HECO. If and when activated, a PSPS will affect BWS operations on the Leeward Coast. Back- up power plans are in place to maintain potable water supply to the affected water system as long as possible during a PSPS event. We ask all customers to practice water conservation to ensure sufficient water supply for drinking, sanitation, and emergency purposes.”
The website specifies the Leeward Coast because that’s the Oahu area HECO has identified as having such a high wildfire risk that it may be subject to a PSPS during extremely windy, dry weather conditions.
On the Big Island, Hawaii County’s Department of Water Supply posts a similar message on its website, hawaiidws.org/psps, which also says “that DWS utilizes backup generators at a limited number of well sites, but these emergency generators CANNOT fully replicate HECO’s power grid. Thus, an extended power outage or PSPS could diminish or deplete DWS’ water systems and leave customers with low pressure or no water. In order to prevent or delay this scenario from occurring, DWS will likely need to restrict or ration tap water for fire protection, drinking, cooking, and personal hygiene purposes only.”
As for President Biden’s concerns, during a White House briefing Thursday about the federal government’s response to the conflagration in Los Angeles County, Biden said preemptive power outages were partly to blame for some L.A. fire hydrants losing water pressure, and that more generators were on the way.
“What this is all about is the utilities, understandably — what they did is they cut off power because they’re worried about these high- tension lines coming down and causing more fires in the wind. Right? When they do that, guess what? They shut off the power that controls the ability to pump the water. And so, now they’re … getting generators now. I mean, this is complicated stuff,” Biden said, according to a White House transcript of the briefing, 808ne.ws/4af7Qyu Opens in a new tab.
You can read about HECO’s wildfire safety plans, including its PSPS program, at heco.com Opens in a new tab.
Auwe
Auwe to the hewa individuals who started a bonfire at Sandy Beach. They yanked out and burned wooden posts and other materials used by the volunteers who have been painstakingly clearing and restoring native coastal plants to the area. The same goes for the people lighting charcoal fires and discarding the lit remains in the restored plantings. There needs to be more nighttime presence of the Honolulu Police Department at the Halona Point side of Sandy Beach, where homeless and troublemakers gather regularly. — Kai L.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
