CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
Lt. Dale Clites directed traffic at the corner of Kalakaua Avenue and Kaiulani Street yesterday during the power outage.
Power failure
mystifies HECOCompany officials say
underground lines would
have prevented yesterday's
electrical outage
Hawaiian Electric Co. officials could not explain last night what cut power to 40,000 customers yesterday morning, but insisted its proposed improvements for East Oahu electric distribution could have shortened the hour-plus outage to minutes.
The power went off at 7:42 a.m. yesterday in most of Kapahulu, McCully, Moiliili, Waikiki, Diamond Head, Kahala, Manoa, St. Louis Heights, Palolo and Kaimuki, affecting 14 percent of HECO customers.
Of two 138-kilovolt powerlines over the Koolau Mountains bringing electricity to the affected communities, one was shut at 6:03 a.m. for scheduled maintenance, HECO spokesman Peter Rosegg said. A circuit breaker blew on the other line, cutting the flow of electricity.
HECO began restoring power at 8:43 a.m. by stopping the maintenance work and returning that line to service, Rosegg said. Power was restored to all customers by 9:13 a.m., he said.
But some residents of Manoa Valley said their power wasn't restored until 11:15 or 11:30 a.m.
The electricity loss complicated the morning commute, as drivers found intersections suddenly without functioning traffic lights. Otherwise, there was little economic impact, since most businesses had yet to open.
A helicopter check of the affected line didn't find any visible problems yesterday morning, Rosegg said. Testing of the line was done throughout the day yesterday without determining the cause of the outage, he said.
"We do not know if it was weather-related ... and there's no way of knowing how long testing will take," Rosegg said.
Had the company's proposed East Oahu upgrades been in place when yesterday's incident happened, Rosegg said, "when the second line was lost, we would have been able to bring power from downtown to temporarily supply enough power to keep things going.
"We would not have had an hour-and-a-half outage. We might have had a flicker."
But opponents of HECO's plans to spend $55 million on underground electric lines said yesterday's outage doesn't necessarily justify the utility's plans.
"It's easy to rush to judgment," said Henry Curtis, director of Life of the Land, one of several groups opposing HECO's plans.
The Public Utilities Commission, which will decide whether to allow HECO to build backup distribution lines, "will need a detailed analysis to determine what could or couldn't be done about it (the outage yesterday)," Curtis said.
Curtis called for an analysis of "what happened? Why did it happen? What could have been done differently to prevent it? And if we do need a system upgrade, which system upgrade would be best?"
"The utility has said they're cutting back on maintenance," Curtis said. "Could better maintenance of the line have prevented the outage?"
During the outage in Kapahulu, Rainbow Drive-In continued to serve breakfast.
"We have gas stoves, so we were able to cook and put out some things slowly because there were no lights," said day manager Pam Martin. "Everyone was in a good mood. We were trying our best."
At Denny's Restaurant on Kalakaua Avenue, "We just served them what we could," said manager Ed Toledo. "The coffee was still warm. We served fruits and cereals."
The University of Hawaii at Manoa held the majority of its classes as scheduled, said UH spokesman Jim Manke. However, some students in the dorms complained about not being able to use their blow dryers.
Police scrambled to control traffic as lights went out, but reported no major problems with traffic flow. Firefighters responded to two stalled elevators in Waikiki.
"I don't know what caused the outage," said City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, who lives in Manoa. "But that doesn't really say that another line is needed. That case still has to be proven to the community," she said.
Kobayashi, state Sen. Carol Fukunaga (D-Makiki-Pawaa) and Rep. Scott Saiki (D-Moiliili-Ala Wai) are concerned about health effects from underground power lines on residents and children at Lunalilo School.
HECO initially proposed building a $31 million, 138-kilovolt line on 100-foot towers on Waahila Ridge between Manoa and Palolo, but that plan was rejected two years ago by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources after it drew heavy opposition from environmentalists and community leaders.
HECO proposed in October that three miles of transmission lines in McCully and Ala Moana, plus transmission upgrades, would provide an alternate way to back up its East Oahu service area.
HECO said it wants build the first phase, with a mile of underground lines between its Makaloa and McCully substations, between 2005 and 2006.
A second phase, projected for 2007-2008, would run 1.9 miles from the company's Archer substation on Cooke Street to Young and McCully streets.
Star-Bulletin reporter Leila Fujimori contributed to this report.
