HONOLULU — The Public Utilities Commission has approved Hawaiian Electric’s $190 million Climate Adaptation Transmission and Resilience Program application, paving the way for the utility to receive $95 million in funds granted under the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to match an equal contribution from customers.
“By applying for and receiving the grant, Hawaiian Electric reduced the cost to customers by half,” HECO stated in a release issued on Thursday. “The estimated impact on a typical monthly bill for a residential customer using 500 kilowatt hours will be $0.17 on Oahu, $0.47 on Hawaii Island and $0.39 in Maui County.”
HECO’s proposed program will address the increasing threat of wildfires and allow it to “harden” its five island electric grids against severe weather-related events fueled by climate change.
In rendering its decision, the PUC noted, “as climate change progresses, the frequency and severity of severe weather events is likely to increase. Given the critical services that rely on electric service to function and our state’s geographic isolation, it is imperative that our electric grid be able to withstand these growing challenges.”
The five-year plan includes initial grid-resilience projects, including the replacement and strengthening of 2,100 poles on critical circuits and the first phase of a long-term climate adaptation effort.
“Investing in a more resilient power system will address the increasing threat of wildfires, reduce the severity of damage when major events happen and enable service to be restored more quickly,” HECO said in its release.
The full program covers a broad set of concerns.
As part of its wildfire mitigation effort, the plan calls for system hardening and “increased situational awareness and control” via cameras, sensors and reclosers in areas at elevated wildfire risk.
Large off-right-of-way trees that are weak, diseased or structurally compromised will be removed rather than trimmed to eliminate the risk of them falling on power lines.
“Hardening” efforts will include replacing poles and conductors on high-priority transmission lines; strengthening circuits serving hospitals, public infrastructure, defense facilities and other critical customers; and replacing existing poles that support multiple circuits with poles made from fire-resistant materials.
In addition, HECO will move certain distribution circuits underground and harden system control centers. The latter initiative will include relocating the Maui control center upland to avoid flooding and establishing a backup control center on Oahu.
The federal grant award was first announced by President Joe Biden during a visit to Maui soon after the deadly Aug. 8 wildfires.
“We appreciate the PUC’s approval of our plan and we thank the U.S. Department of Energy and the Biden administration for their funding support as we work with partners across the state to help Maui recover, to reduce the risk of wildfires and to make our system stronger,” said Colton Ching, HECO senior vice president of planning and technology.
Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at michael.tsai@charter.com.