Top Hawaiian Electric Company executives briefed state senators last Friday on the utility's plan to reduce wildfire ignition risk by 80% on the five islands it serves.
The utility has several initiatives underway, including replacing outdated fuses that can spark fires and setting up AI-powered cameras to spot signs of wildfire. Hawaiian Electric says those efforts have already cut wildfire risk in half.
HECO Senior Vice President Colton Ching said that other strategies will be harder to implement, including undergrounding power lines.
Just over half of the utility’s transmission lines are already underground, and Ching estimated it would cost $11 million per mile to put other transmission lines below ground.
"So it's not to say we’re against undergrounding, we know it just comes at a price," Ching said.
HECO is taking a targeted approach to see what communities would benefit most from having their lines underground, with Lahaina at the top of the list. Ching said that HECO is working closely with Lahaina residents to see how undergrounding lines could play into the town's rebuilding efforts.
"But we’re struggling to figure out what the right role for underground is in places like Lahaina because we don’t know exactly what the plans for Lahaina are just yet," Ching told senators.
HECO also touched on the global wildfire settlement. It will pay out close to $2 billion to wildfire victims, and it plans to make the first $500 million payment using funds from a recent sale of its stocks.
The utility is still figuring out how it will make the next three installments, but HECO Senior Vice President Jason Benn reiterated that ratepayers are not on the hook for that cost.
"We’re not asking for help to pay off anything. We’re paying for the settlement. Not one penny from ratepayers," Benn said.
HECO is required to file its full wildfire mitigation plan with the Public Utilities Commission by Jan. 10.
