Hawaiian Electric has improved its Wildfire Safety Strategy to reduce the wildfire risk from its equipment.
The actions include a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) program, replacing and testing utility poles, upgrading overhead power lines, clearing intrusive vegetation near electrical equipment, and installing weather stations and AI-assisted high definition video cameras. The upgrades are part of Hawaiian Electricʻs multi-year grid resilience program to harden against wildfires, hurricanes, tsunami and flooding, and to adapt to impacts of climate change.
Hawaiian Electric is working with Filsinger Energy Partners, an energy advisory firm specializing in wildfire mitigation strategies and risk modeling. According to Filsinger, the various wildfire risk mitigation actions and programs implemented by Hawaiian Electric have reduced the risk of wildfire from the utility’s equipment by approximately 60%.
In 2024, Hawaiian Electric is spending about $120 million to make wildfire safety improvements in four key areas:
Foundational Work:
- Developed wildfire risk maps based on the potential of ignition by utility equipment.
- Conducted inspections of circuits in high-risk areas to prioritize hardening work.
- Continued ongoing vegetation management efforts in areas adjacent to power lines on all islands, spending $100 million in the last four years.
- Installing 3,534 fire-safe fuses to reduce the risk of ignition.
- Installing 1,071 new lightning arrestors to further protect equipment from lightning strikes.
Operational Changes:
- Launched a Public Safety Power Shutoff program, under which Hawaiian Electric may preemptively shut off power in areas at high risk of wildfires during periods of forecast high winds and dry conditions.
- Started deployment of spotters in risk areas during hazardous weather conditions.
- Set circuit breakers to automatically shut off power in risk areas when a disturbance is detected on a circuit.
Situational Awareness:
- Installed a network of 53 weather stations in wildfire-prone areas on four islands to provide information about wind, temperature and humidity to help the company better predict and respond to fire weather conditions. The weather stations, mounted on utility poles, provide meteorological data to help the company decide whether to activate and deactivate a PSPS.
- Started installation of a network of 78 artificial intelligence-assisted high-definition video cameras to help quickly detect wildfires.
Grid Hardening:
- Replaced and upgraded 2,202 utility poles.
- Replaced more than 16 miles of older overhead lines with new, more resilient lines.
- Installed 4,514 single-phase fault current indicators, which allow crews to more quickly locate disturbances on lines in high-risk areas.
Hawaiian Electric is also working with community partners on wildfire safety projects, such as the construction of a firebreak at Leihoku Elementary in Waianae. The project helped remove more than 1,000 feet of kiawe trees and grasses on Department of Hawaiian Home Lands property.
Hawaiian Electric is not only seeking grants and federal funding for safety and resilience programs but is also developing a longer-term wildfire safety plan to be filed with the Public Utilities Commission in January 2025.
