First, watch the video above. Then consider the following observations by Katherine Blunt, Dan Frosch, and Jim Carlton in the Wall Street Journal:
During the 2019 wildfire season, one of the worst Maui had ever seen, Hawaiian Electric concluded that it needed to do far more to prevent its power lines from emitting sparks.
The utility examined California’s plans to reduce fires ignited by power lines, started flying drones over its territory and vowed to take steps to protect its equipment and its customers from the threat of fire.
Nearly four years later, the company has completed little such work. Between 2019 and 2022, it invested less than $245,000 on wildfire-specific projects on the island, regulatory filings show. It didn’t seek state approval to raise rates to pay for broad wildfire-safety improvements until 2022, and has yet to receive it.
Now, the company is facing scrutiny, litigation and a financial crisis over indications that its power lines might have played a role in igniting the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. The blaze has caused more than 100 deaths, destroyed the historic town of Lahaina and resulted in an estimated billions of dollars in damage.
I’m having difficulty in visualizing how residents of Hawaii will get along without electricity, Hawaiian Electric could be motivated to clean up its act, or socializing its power generation and distribution would resolve the problem. Also cf. “ComEd Four”.
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/wildfire-risk-maui-hawaiian-electric-7beed21e
I think you are remiss in not citing a key thrust of the article. The diversion of management focus and capital on “green†electricity generation to the exclusion of wild fire mitigation.
Clearly, it’s where the incentives were pointing.
These companies are weathervanes. They’ll point whichever way the wind is blowing.
A major contributor to the Lahaina disaster was the refusal of the Deputy Director of the Hawaii Commission on Water Resource Management, M. Kaleo Manuel to release water to the Maui Fire Department when Lahaina’s own supply ran out.
https://www.newsweek.com/who-kaleo-manuel-hawaii-official-delayed-water-release-maui-fire-1820405
Manuel was concerned about equity issues.
Yeah, I’d read that. I have no idea what he means by “equity” in this context. I can only speculate that “equity” has become a catch-all when people don’t want to do things because they’re concerned about criticism.
It’s the WSJ so you expect them to try to slant the story. Having run a small business for many years I know you can work on more than one thing at once. Renewables were on the supply side of the company while power lines were on the maintenance side. They both needed attention. They actually note the reason why maintenance was ignored.
“Henry Curtis, who leads an environmental and community group that regularly weighs in on utility projects, said Hawaiian Electric officials told him privately that they didn’t believe Hawaii was prone to the type of devastating wildfires roaring through California. The utility officials thought the state’s parched grasslands were less of an urgent threat than California’s vast and dry timberlands, he said. ”
Steve