A little over a week ago, Waiʻanae resident Linda Jury got a notice in the mail from Hawaiian Electric informing her that during hazardous wildfire conditions, the utility may cut off her power.
Jury is one of about 47,000 customers who fall under HECO’s new Public Safety Power Shutoff, or PSPS, program. As of July 1, new protocols enable the utility to preemptively de-energize in specific fire-prone areas on Hawaiʻi Island, Maui, Molokaʻi and Oʻahu during certain weather conditions, like high winds and low humidity. If the utility does elect to shut off the power, it could be off for days.
Jury was aware HECO was under pressure to demonstrate it had safety protocols in place after the deadly Aug. 8 wildfires, but it wasn't until she got the utility's letter in the mail that she realized the new plan could directly impact her family’s power supply.
Community meeting
A week before the official launch of HECO’s power shutoff program, which could affect up to 2,700 West Oʻahu residents, Jury said many of her neighbors were left scrambling about how to prepare.
Several Waiʻanae residents showed up to a community meeting held by HECO last Thursday in Māʻili to ask questions and air their concerns.
“There was some people who were upset, and rightfully so,” Jury said. “They have to plan, and this meeting is happening one week before the protocol gets put in place, so I can see and understand why people would be frustrated.”
Jury considers herself lucky — she has a generator, which will help her family ride out any power outages.
“But I know in our community, we have lots of families that don't have that resources,” Jury said. “These things are expensive, and they might not be able to afford it.” Jury went to Thursday’s meeting seeking answers from HECO on what resources could be developed to help Waiʻanae families with the economic burden of power outages.
She estimated she spends about $500 a week to feed her family of eight, and she worried that other families won’t have the extra money to replace a week’s worth of spoiled groceries while the power is out.
“In our community, that is the biggest concern,” Jury said. “Some people are just one paycheck away from being homeless out here," she said.
Looking outwards
Many California residents have had to contend with the costs of power outages over the last decade, as major utilities like Pacific Gas and Electric Company have implemented their own public safety power shutoff programs.
Patrick Murphy lives with his family in Marin County, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and said he’s been through his fair share of shutoff events over the last five years.
“We ended up throwing away a refrigerator of food and a freezer full of food a couple of times a year because of public safety power shutoffs,” Murphy said.
Marin is one of the wealthiest counties in California. That affluence generally helps residents withstand the economic burdens of power outages, Murphy said.
He counted himself among those privileged few — when his family’s groceries spoiled in the summer heat without refrigeration, “No one went hungry in our house because of it,” Murphy said.
Murphy, who owns his single-family home and has the means to invest, ultimately decided to install a solar-powered backup system for his house. Since then, he said his family has ridden out power outages “without even a blip.”
But Murphy said that strategy is out of reach for a lot of people.
“To put in a backup system for your house, you own the house? And then even if you own the house, do you have the money to do it?” Murphy said. “You start to see that 'resilience' ends up being more accessible to wealthier households than to poor households.”
Murphy isn’t just speaking from personal experience. He is a senior scientist for PSE Healthy Energy, with a focus on equity and justice in energy systems in California. PSE tracks power shutoffs across the state and their impacts on disadvantaged communities.
“Income matters,” Murphy said. “Your ability to ride through an outage is very income-driven, especially to minimize the impact.”
Murphy suggested that policymakers need to seriously consider the disparate impacts of public safety power shutoff programs as they become a more common tool to prevent wildfires.
Refining the program
On Tuesday morning, PG&E initiated a shutoff event due to high wildfire risk, cutting power to thousands of homes and businesses in Northern California. PG&E partners with local food banks and Meals on Wheels during outages to help affected families, but those programs are only available while supplies last.
HECO, which announced its PSPS program at the end of May, has maintained that it will continue to refine the program after its July 1 launch.
Jury hopes Hawaiʻi’s largest utility and local lawmakers will ensure that Waiʻanae families have what they need.
“HECO should be prioritizing helping our community, and our government should look at finding funds too,” Jury said. “Somebody has to advocate for the people.”
Find out if your home may be affected by a Public Safety Power Shutoff event by searching your address here. Find information on community meetings to discuss the Public Safety Power Shutoff Program with Hawaiian Electric representatives here.
