An online map showing what areas on Oahu are experiencing power outages is live.
Hawaiian Electric Co. said Wednesday that Oahu customers can now report power outages and monitor power restoration from their computer or mobile device. The map can be found at hawaiianelectric.com/outagemap or by Googling “Hawaiian Electric outage map.”
“We’ve listened to our customers, who’ve made it clear they want more information about power outages,” said Jim Alberts, senior vice president of customer service for Hawaiian Electric, in a prepared statement. “They’ve told us they want to know someone is working on restoring their power, so we’re providing them with another option they can use to stay updated.”
HECO said the outage map is based on customer reporting and will display real-time information for power outages across the island.
Darren Pai, HECO spokesman, said the mobile-friendly website was designed to make sure customers who are unable to access their internet during an outage can still report the blackout.
“A lot of our customers use mobile,” Pai said. “We know that when the power is out, you can’t use your desktop computer. … The most convenient device is their smartphone. They can use the map feature to report (from their phone) or can call us on the trouble line.”
The real-time information includes the general areas that are experiencing outages, the approximate number of people affected, when the outage began and the estimated time of power restoration. If available, the map will also show the cause of the problem.
Some common causes for outages are weather, motor vehicle collisions, impacts from falling tree branches and debris — such as metallic balloons — that are blown into lines.
Oahu residents can also monitor the reliability of the island’s grid and what HECO is doing to fix it by following HECO on Twitter at @HwnElectric under the hashtag #OahuOutage.
