{"id":725,"date":"2026-06-23T11:05:03","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T11:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=725"},"modified":"2026-06-23T11:05:03","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T11:05:03","slug":"hawaii-utilities-work-to-strengthen-grid-resiliency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=725","title":{"rendered":"Hawaii utilities work to strengthen grid resiliency"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Emergency officials are warning residents to brace for the possibility of extended power outages as Hawaii enters an El Nino season expected to generate five to 13 tropical storms in the Central Pacific Basin.<\/p>\n

Read more Dodgers defeat Twins, but lose Kyle Tucker and catcher Dalton Rushing during game<\/a><\/p>\n

The warning comes as Hawaii grapples with its energy future amid ambitious renewable\u2011\u00adenergy targets, and the state energy office says resiliency remains a priority.<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

It took more than two months for crews to restore power on Kauai after Hurricane Iniki knocked out 5,000 utility poles in 1992. When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, workers needed 11 months to fully restore power to the island.<\/p>\n

Hawaii Emergency Management Agency information specialist Patrick Daley said a direct hit from a hurricane \u201cwould have the power to disrupt our energy supply for weeks or months, especially in rural and rugged areas where repairing utility poles and power lines is difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

As emergency officials encourage residents to prepare for the worst, utility companies are stepping up efforts to harden infrastructure against natural disasters. Officials have reiterated that coordination across agencies is critical to expedite restoration and recovery.<\/p>\n

Prioritizing
\nresiliency <\/p>\n

Gov. Josh Green said resilience must remain a top priority as Hawaii faces increasing threats from hurricanes, wildfires and other disasters.<\/p>\n

\u201cHawaii is making stra\u00adtegic investments to strengthen our energy systems, protect critical infrastructure and support communities before emergencies occur,\u201d Green said. \u201cBy working across agencies and with public and private partners, we are building a more resilient Hawaii that can protect lives, maintain essential services and recover stronger from whatever challenges lie ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colton Ching, senior vice president of planning and technology for Hawaiian Electric Company, said HECO has enough fuel back stocked to last 45 days in a worst case scenario, but warned that port damage would heavily influence how quickly crews could repair the grid. The 45\u2011day estimate excludes any damage to transmission lines, circuit breakers or other infrastructure that requires shipped\u2011in supplies to repair.<\/p>\n

Manpower for repairs is also a vulnerability if ports or the airport get damaged in a storm, he said. While HECO is a part of a national mutual aid program for utilities, contractors can\u2019t go to a nearby staging area and immediately travel into the impacted area once a storm passes like they do on the mainland.<\/p>\n

\u201cHawaii is in a very, very different and unique situation. There is no set of freeways that our neighboring utilities can just drive over to Hawaii to do what\u2019s done in almost every other state on the mainland,\u201d Ching said. \u201cWe\u2019re very dependent upon the harbors, the airports, the ships and the aircraft to really affect the recovery that we would like to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

HECO is spending more than $100 million annually in capital investments and operating expenses to improve grid resiliency, Ching said, adding that retrofits for different types of natural disasters tend to overlap with one another. The agency prioritizes replacing poles in wildfire risk areas and clearing vegetation, he said, which has advantages for both wildfires and hurricanes. HECO also reroutes circuits from hard\u2011to\u2011reach locations to make them more accessible.<\/p>\n

\u201cResilience is defined as both resistance to damage, but also the recovery from any damage,\u201d he said. \u201cHaving (infrastructure) in a place that\u2019s accessible, where you don\u2019t need a helicopter to do repairs, is part of our resilience work.\u201d<\/p>\n

HECO replaced 1,650 poles, upgraded 850 poles and trimmed vegetation along 2,334 miles of circuits across the state in 2025. It also installed AI-assisted fire-detection cameras in 144 locations, installed 101 weather stations, established a hazard watch office and hired a staff meteorologist.<\/p>\n

Ching said HECO develops and deploys microgrids across the islands, a decade\u2011\u00adlong effort meant to power \u201cresilience hubs\u201d when disasters knock out other parts of the grid. On Oahu, two microgrids operate from Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Airfield, which allows the Hawaii National Guard, Army, Queen\u2019s Medical Center in Wahiawa and the airship at Wheeler to have full electrical service. A microgrid project at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam is slated to finish in 2029, he said, while similar projects for critical services in Maui County are also in the works.<\/p>\n

Read more Puna lawmaker targeted in threatening social media post<\/a><\/p>\n

The military bases offer alternative shipping routes for emergency supplies, he said, which can strengthen and speed up the island\u2019s recovery.<\/p>\n

Lessons from Kauai <\/p>\n

Kauai also has embraced microgrids in its energy system, said Beth Amaro, Kauai Island Utility Cooperative member services and communications manager. At the time Iniki hit, the island only had the Port Allen plant on the south shore, which operates off of fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

Now, 34 years later, the island is a leader in the renewable energy transition, and is on track to generate 100% of its energy through renewables by 2033. The cooperative has eight solar facilities \u2014 two of which have their own microgrids in the event of an emergency \u2014 along with four hydropower plants and one biomass plant. The island also is developing two more solar and battery projects that will also be retrofitted with microgrids, Amaro said.<\/p>\n

Resiliency has been a priority throughout the transition, with the memory of Hurricane Iniki influencing how the cooperative strengthens its infrastructure.<\/p>\n

For example, Amaro said, Kauai has retrofitted 80% of its transmission circuits with steel poles over the past three decades to better withstand high wind. She added that infrastructure itself, like solar panels, is highly resistant to hurricane winds but noted that incoming debris slamming into a panel \u2014 along with damage to transmission lines \u2014poses the main risks in a storm.<\/p>\n

The key advantage for Kauai\u2019s energy resiliency is renewable energy itself, Amaro said. The island relies far less on imported fuel than the other island, making it less vulnerable to any supply chain disruptions caused by damaged ports.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have what we need right here,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have the sun, our hydro\u00ad-projects have water flowing. Our biomass plant is a closed-loop system here, so they\u2019re growing all of the feed stock for their biomass operation.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added that customers with rooftop solar can power themselves for a period of time if their infrastructure survives a storm.<\/p>\n

The cooperative also keeps a back-stock of poles and replacement supplies that can sustain the island through about a month of work following a hurricane, she said, helping alleviate pressure in the event ports are damaged. She added that drone technology that didn\u2019t exist in 1992 now enables the utility to survey damage and make appropriate plans to address it quickly.<\/p>\n

Preparation key <\/p>\n

The Hawaii State Energy Office said it is currently managing eight resiliency and reliability projects with $50 million of federal funds through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Department of Energy across the state. The projects include infrastructure hardening, advanced monitoring, community microgrids and risk mitigation measures.<\/p>\n

Hardening infrastructure against extreme weather, expanding battery storage and microgrids and maintaining access to replacement equipment helps prevent a prolonged outage, the agency said.<\/p>\n

Daley said people need to be ready to sustain themselves without power. Battery-powered radios, camp stoves and back-up batteries and generators \u2014 especially for those with powered medical devices or refrigerated medicine \u2014 will play a crucial role, especially in the initial days. He noted that the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative offers a $200 rebate for medical device power back-up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key is to be prepared,\u201d he said, \u201cto keep these backup devices charged and have a plan for how you will expend energy.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Read more Another brace for Kylian Mbappe sends France to 3-0 win over Iraq<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hawaii utilities work to strengthen grid resiliency – Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":724,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHawaii utilities work to strengthen grid resiliency - Moving to Hawaii Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=725\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hawaii utilities work to strengthen grid resiliency - Moving to Hawaii Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hawaii utilities work to strengthen grid resiliency - Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=725\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving to Hawaii Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-23T11:05:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=725#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=725\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\"},\"headline\":\"Hawaii utilities work to strengthen grid resiliency\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T11:05:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=725\"},\"wordCount\":1264,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=725#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/e84bcd3588644d04e83bc61a023826ef.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=725#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=725\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=725\",\"name\":\"Hawaii utilities work to strengthen grid resiliency - Moving to Hawaii Guide\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=725#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=725#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/e84bcd3588644d04e83bc61a023826ef.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T11:05:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=725#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=725\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=725#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/e84bcd3588644d04e83bc61a023826ef.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/e84bcd3588644d04e83bc61a023826ef.webp\",\"width\":760,\"height\":402},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?p=725#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hawaii utilities work to strengthen grid resiliency\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving to Hawaii Guide\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hawaii utilities work to strengthen grid resiliency - Moving to Hawaii Guide","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=725","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hawaii utilities work to strengthen grid resiliency - Moving to Hawaii Guide","og_description":"Hawaii utilities work to strengthen grid resiliency - Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald","og_url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=725","og_site_name":"Moving to Hawaii Guide","article_published_time":"2026-06-23T11:05:03+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=725#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=725"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84"},"headline":"Hawaii utilities work to strengthen grid resiliency","datePublished":"2026-06-23T11:05:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=725"},"wordCount":1264,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=725#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/e84bcd3588644d04e83bc61a023826ef.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=725#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=725","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=725","name":"Hawaii utilities work to strengthen grid resiliency - Moving to Hawaii Guide","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=725#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=725#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/e84bcd3588644d04e83bc61a023826ef.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-23T11:05:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=725#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=725"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=725#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/e84bcd3588644d04e83bc61a023826ef.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/e84bcd3588644d04e83bc61a023826ef.webp","width":760,"height":402},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=725#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hawaii utilities work to strengthen grid resiliency"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/","name":"Moving to Hawaii Guide","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aab134479722ebfc548519f5ae92ff84","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}