Recent local and national news coverage has reinforced a central claim in Hu Honua’s amended complaint against Hawaiian Electric. Namely: that the company’s near-total monopoly status over the wholesale firm power generation market on Hawaii Island is causing direct harm to Hawaii residents in the form of higher rates and grid reliability issues.
As quoted in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald, a spokesperson for Hawaiian Electric confirmed that their Hamakua plant, which typically services a third of Hawaii Island’s demand, has gone offline, “leaving the power grid with a significant deficit of power.”
Further, the company’s Keahole generator is being overhauled on the mainland, leading to an additional loss of power generation capacity.
Consequently, HECO has been forced to request that customers on Hawaii Island reduce their electricity use over the next month, and warned that rolling blackouts might be necessary in the interim.
For further coverage, please see:
- Reuters, March 25, 2024, “Hawaiian Electric asks customers to conserve power in April as supply tightens”
- Hawaii Tribune-Herald, March 26, 2024, “Hawaiian Electric: ‘Tight supply of electricity’ on the Big Island through April”
- Big Island Video News, March 26, 2024, “Not Enough Power Supply On Hawaiʻi Island?”