Hawaiian Electric Company

The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court will consider questions about issues that threaten to thwart a $4 billion settlement in last year's devastating Maui wildfires. A Maui judge last month agreed to ask the state high court questions about how insurance companies can go about recouping money paid to policyholders.

Hawaiʻi's two big electricity providers have filed plans with the Public Utilities Commission about what they are doing to prepare for natural disasters.

Power disconnections are on the rise in Hawaiʻi. HPR's Savannah Harriman-Pote reports on how the Public Utilities Commission is exploring ways to offer more protection to residents who fall behind on their bills.

Hawaiian Electric Company is hosting a Community Resilience Fair on Aug. 19 to prepare Hawaiʻi Island residents for outages and other emergencies. The fair will be from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

HECO has partnered with ALERTWest to deploy and maintain a system of AI-powered cameras. They run an AI wildfire monitoring network across several western states on the continent.

A HECO funded project creates firebreak at Leihōkū Elementary in Waiʻanae to help with fire preparedness. This comes after various wildfire scares near the school over the years.

Judge Peter Cahill has ruled that insurance companies who have paid out more than $2 billion in claims can seek reimbursement only from the settlement amount defendants fire victims blame for causing the deadly tragedy have agreed to pay.

Hawaiian Electric Industries is reporting a loss of $1.3 billion for the second quarter of 2024. That loss is related to the costs of a recent settlement with victims of the Aug. 8, 2023, fires.

A court filing says the parties in lawsuits seeking damages for last year's Maui wildfires have reached a $4 billion global settlement. In the spring, a judge appointed mediators and ordered all parties to participate in settlement talks.

HECO said the power stayed on Wednesday night after warning Oʻahu residents and businesses of possible rolling power outages.