Appreciation
by Teri Theuriet | Sept. 5, 2018

By all accounts, Lane was a close call. While we’re all thankful that it didn’t make a direct hit, the storm still did a lot of damage, mainly on Maui and Hawaii Island. For those of us who aren’t/weren’t actually out making repairs and doing cleanup, the slow-moving Lane provided a chance to gain a greater appreciation for those who were on the front lines and behind the scenes.

“On Hawaii Island, we’ve been through storms, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions,” says Kristen Okinaka, senior communications consultant for Hawaii Electric Light. “During tough times, we pull together and help each other out.” Our dedicated employees worked on restoring power in the midst of torrential rains, powerful wind, and catastrophic flooding.
In addition to storm-related weather, crews from Maui Electric had to deal with a fire that limited access to certain areas, a collapsed culvert that created a 30-foot sinkhole and washed away underground electrical equipment, and mountainous terrain that required workers to hike in carrying all their equipment and tools.

“Through it all, our teams out in the field and those supporting these efforts from the office, worked around the clock until every affected customer was back online,” said Maui Electric Communications Director Shayna Decker. Maui crews, along with additional assistance and resources from our Lanai line crew, Hawaiian Electric and Hawaii Electric Light, are still in the process of rebuilding two of the three main lines to Lahaina that were damaged during the storm.
Crews on Oahu also had to deal with a storm-spawned wildfire during Lane. This one was dangerously close to our Kahe power plant. So close, in fact, that our operators — the folks who basically run the plant and make sure we’re generating the electricity needed to keep power to our homes and businesses at a steady 60 Hz — had to wear respirators because the smoke in their control room was so thick. Others on duty at Kahe that afternoon used hoses to help firefighters keep the flames at bay and protect our infrastructure. Most of the public didn’t know this, but the situation looked grim enough at one point that we had a contingency plan ready in case the power plant succumbed to the flames and we lost the 650 megawatts of electricity that Kahe generates for the island. Fortunately, HFD got the fire under control, and by evening, the plant operators were able to work without respirators. (BTW, we have sufficient generation from multiple sources for all the islands we serve. Check out pages 6 & 7 of our latest Sustainability Report for a detailed look.)

Field crews regularly receive customer kudos because they’re the ones who are most visible during emergencies. They’re the ones battling the rain and wind while working with something that’s dangerous and potentially deadly but is essential to our customers. Our customer service reps also get a lot of mahalos from customers, naturally. The less visible folks, like the plant operators, are equally deserving of our gratitude. So are the hundreds of other employees who may not have direct customer contact but who serve as emergency responders behind the scenes.
Like the logistics teams which, among their gazillion tasks, make sure our crews have working vehicles and the supplies they need so they can get out there to restore power. The planning teams, which include engineers in charge of managing damage assessment, have the daunting task of keeping track of everything we do in a storm. Everything. Can you imagine having to do that in the middle of a hurricane? Not just because our regulators require us to, but so that we can look for any gaps in our response and keep making improvements.

Our liaison group keeps in constant touch with government agencies, lawmakers and our regulators, so all are informed and can work together, rather than in silos. It also helps with accountability, so they know what, when and why we do what we need to do.
Then there are the IT wizards, without whom none of our computers or phone lines would function, and many of us would cease to function. (What?! You want me to use a PEN and PAPER?!) And our Finance group, which tracks spending during storms and helps to make sure we are able to obtain whatever is needed to restore power or otherwise serve our customers. Finance is especially critical in cases where our state requests help from the federal government.
I don’t want to forget our safety and security teams. They do pretty much what they do every day of the year: keep us safe and secure. Of course, in a storm situation, they have additional challenges, especially the safety team. With linemen working 50 feet in the air in a bucket on a boom that’s swaying in 30 mph wind and pounding rain, you can bet our safety folks are crazy busy.
“Every employee is important and has an emergency response role,” said Kristen. “Their level of commitment to work together to serve our community makes me proud and honored to work here.” I couldn’t agree more.
Teri Theuriet is the director of internal corporate communications at Hawaiian Electric.
