Hawaiian Electric customers are advised to conserve electricity this evening after an unexpected generator failure.
In a notice released at approximately 4:50 p.m., Hawaiian Electric cautioned Hawaii Island customers to reduce electricity use between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. tonight.
The utility is recommending that residents turn off appliances such as air-conditioners, water heaters and unnecessary lighting, and postpone activities like cooking and laundry until later in the evening.
The notice was prompted by the unexpected failure of independent power producer Hamakua Energy in the late afternoon, according to Hawaiian Electric.
At the same time, other producers such as Hawaiian Electric’s Hill Plant Unit 5, Keahole CT-5 and Puna Stream Plant are unavailable due to maintenance and repair work, Puna Geothermal Venture is operating at a reduced capacity, and wind resources are forecast to be nonexistent this evening.
Should another large generator fail, Hawaiian Electric might initiate brief rolling outages around the island to prevent overwhelming the power grid.
The outages would last between 30 minutes and 60 minutes, with their location and timing determined based on the amount of electric demand that needs to be reduced.
Updates will be posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @HIElectricLight.