Hawaiian Electric warns of wildfire season, plans Big Island grid upgrades

Hawaiian Electric is bracing Big Island households for a harder wildfire season, with pole replacements and covered conductor work set for later this summer in Waimea and Kawaihae. The utility is also warning residents to prepare for the possibility that fire weather could bring emergency conditions, including planned shutoffs and other service disruptions if hot winds and dry vegetation put its equipment at risk.

In a June 10 customer advisory, Hawaiian Electric said less rainfall is expected in the months ahead and urged families across the state to get ready now. The company says it serves 95% of Hawaii’s 1.4 million residents across Oahu, Maui, Hawaii Island, Lānai and Molokai, and it has been steering more resources toward wildfire readiness since the August 2023 Maui windstorm and fires. Its Public Safety Power Shutoff program is designed to reduce wildfire risk when hot, windy weather and dry vegetation surround utility equipment.

On Hawaii Island, the utility says the summer work in Waimea and Kawaihae is aimed at some of the places where the risk calculus is most sensitive: windy corridors, heavy vegetation, critical infrastructure and the roads people would use to get in and out during an emergency. Hawaiian Electric says its high-risk maps rely on fire history, wind data, vegetation, evacuation routes and the location of its own infrastructure. The company also says circuits are prioritized based on wind exposure, vegetation density, proximity to critical infrastructure and the importance of ingress and egress routes.

The broader hardening effort is already under way statewide. Hawaiian Electric says it replaced 1,650 poles last year, upgraded another 850, trimmed vegetation along 2,334 miles of circuits, installed high-resolution AI-assisted fire detection cameras at 144 locations, added 101 weather stations, opened a watch office to monitor fire risks and other hazards, and hired a staff meteorologist. Those numbers show how much of the wildfire fight is now tied to basic grid maintenance, not just emergency response.

The utility began developing its wildfire strategy in 2019, then updated it after the Maui disaster and expanded it into a 2025-2027 safety strategy. The Public Utilities Commission approved that plan on December 31, 2025, while also saying some areas still needed improvement. Hawaiian Electric has put the three-year plan’s cost at $350 million, and it has been working with a Wildfire Safety Working Group made up of government agencies and community groups. For Big Island residents, especially in the island’s drier and more exposed areas, the message is simple: the grid is being hardened now, but prevention may still come with outages, construction and closer management of when power stays on.