Hawaiian Electric Company has a four-part plan designed to reduce ignition risk from utility infrastructure.
That wildfire safety strategy includes installing over 50 weather stations mounted on utility poles across the state by this summer. HECO will also be installing nearly 80 cameras with artificial intelligence for early fire detection.
HECO’s Colton Ching told Lahaina residents last week that the new infrastructure will improve situational awareness and faster response to weather affecting the electric grid.
“These cameras have 360-degree view capability,” he said. “They're augmented with artificial intelligence, so it can look for telltale signs of what may be a fire, and then flag operators that are manning a facility 24/7 to investigate, to determine, indeed, whether or not there is a smoke or fire.”
The data will be publicly accessible.
A new watch office to monitor the technology will be set up this year, separate from the grid operation headquarters, Ching said.
“This watch office is going to operate 24/7 to look at the cameras, to man the weather, to do updated forecasts of weather, to understand what our infrastructure is supposed to, not just now but in future periods of time, so we can adjust our operations to reduce those risks,” he explained.
Ching said the new technology will also help create updated wildfire risk maps. Along with the weather stations and cameras, the company’s three-year plan includes hardening and redesigning the grid with new equipment and undergrounding lines.
The company said it will also be improving operational practices and community engagement as part of its wildfire safety strategy.
