Hawaiian Electric asks customers to conserve power in April as supply tightens
March 25 (Reuters) - Hawaiian Electric on Monday asked its customers in Hawaii Island to reduce or shift their electricity use through April after the utility's largest generator, an independent power producer, went offline due to significant mechanical issues.
The generator could account for nearly one-third of Hawaii Island's typical peak demand of 180 megawatts (MW), the Honolulu-based company said. Without enough supply to match demand, Hawaiian Electric will initiate rolling outages for up to an hour, with impacted areas and timing to be determined by amount of demand to be reduced.
Hawaiian Electric also started rolling outages in February due to the unavailability of several large generators and the resulting output reduction.
On Monday, it encouraged consumers to minimize energy use as much as possible, especially on weekdays, and heed alerts to conserve energy on days without much wind.
Wind-generated power accounts for 15% of the grid's electricity, according to the utility.
Other large generators were also expected to be unavailable due to mechanical problems, were operating at reduced output or undergoing maintenance during the month, it said.
Hawaiian Electric last made headlines in 2023, when the Maui county sued the company saying it acted negligently by failing to shut down power, leading to wildfires that destroyed the coastal town of Lahaina and killed more than 114 people.
(Reporting by Kabir Dweit in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
