By Staff Reports
(Hawaii)– Hawaiian Electric crews plan to complete urgent upgrades starting July 16 that require overnight outages in Iwilei, Kaka‘ako and Ala Moana areas served by underground cabling.
After a number of outages in the area, Hawaiian Electric engineers discovered flaws in coupling devices, known as splices, that connect high voltage cables to the circuits that supply power to homes and businesses. Other utilities have reported similar problems with these types of connectors.
Left as they are, the splices present a reliability risk to customers and a safety risk to crews that work in manholes. By replacing the splices before they fail, Hawaiian Electric hopes to resolve the problem with the least inconvenience to customers.
In the past year there have been more than a dozen outages on the six circuits slated for upgrades, including a cluster of outages in December that interrupted power to the Hawaii Convention Center and Ward-area businesses.
Replacing the splices before they fail will help avoid prolonged and unplanned outages, and we want to resolve this issue as quickly and as safely as possible.
About 400 businesses and 2,500 residential customers, including several condominium towers, will be affected by the outages scheduled Mondays through Thursdays. Condominium residents are urged to check with property managers to see whether this upgrade work will affect them.
Letters will be sent to both commercial and residential customers affected by the scheduled work, and our employees also have contacted dozens of customers through visits or phone conversations. Up to 12 outages will be scheduled during this project.
The work will begin on Monday, July 16, in the Iwilei area and proceed to Kaka‘ako and Ala Moana areas. To safely make repairs and minimize disruption, the crews will need to shut down equipment in the manholes, resulting in outages from about 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on scheduled dates. Customers should note that outages affecting their business or residence might not impact neighboring customers who may be on a different circuit.
A schedule of the outages will be provided in advance. Customers who have questions about the upcoming work can call 548-7311 or visit www.hawaiianelectric.com/UndergroundUpgrades.