1 p.m. update: Hawaiian Electric crews making progress in power restorations 95% of impacted customers expected to be restored by Friday
1 p.m. update: Hawaiian Electric crews making progress in power restorations
95% of impacted customers expected to be restored by Friday
- More than 91% of customers have power across our service territories; approximately 40,400 customers remain without power as of 11 a.m.
- Assistance from mainland utilities has started to arrive
- Oʻahu customers again asked to conserve power today
HONOLULU, Aug. 18, 2026 – Hawaiian Electric continues to make progress in damage assessment and repairs to restore power to affected customers across Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi Island and Maui County. More than 91% of customers have power as of 11 a.m.
The company expects 95% of all impacted customers to be restored across the state by Friday, except for certain remote and severely damaged areas of South Hawai‘i Island. Areas of Puna, North and South Kohala and the southern part Ka‘u, Na‘alehu, Punalu‘u and Kilauea which could take at least two weeks.
Hawaiian Electric has dispatched 37 teams of engineers today on Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island to assess damage and develop plans to rebuild infrastructure badly damaged by the storm and restore resilience to our grids. Helicopter and drones are still being deployed on Oʻahu, Hawai‘i Island and Maui today to assist with ongoing damage assessments in remote areas with rugged terrain. Linemen from mainland partner utilities began arriving today to help expedite restoration efforts. Hawaiian Electric, which is part of the Western Region Mutual Assistance Group, requested help and crews from Southern California Edison will begin work on Thursday.
We appreciate the public’s continued patience and acknowledge the challenges of being without power for extended periods. The company is focused on completing damage assessments so that restoration updates can be provided as soon as possible.
As of 11 a.m.:
- Hawaiʻi Island: Approximately 26,900 customers remain without power. Most of the outages are in the Puna area, North and South Kona, North and South Kohala, Hamakua, North and South Hilo, and Ka‘u. Transmission line assessments were completed yesterday and distribution line assessments are being completed today.
- Maui County: With a majority of impacted customers brought back online, crews are focusing today on restoring areas of Haʻikū and Pe‘ahi as well pocket outages in Upcountry, Kahului, Lahaina, and East Maui. About 2,100 remain without power. Maui had nine transmission/subtransmission lines affected by the storm and six (67%) have been restored.
- Oʻahu: About 11,400 customers remain without power in Honolulu, Leeward and Windward areas. O’ahu had 30 transmission/subtransmission lines affected by the storm and 13 have been restored (43%). Work is underway to repair 10 damaged poles in central Oʻahu that carry subtransmission lines. Crews are also working on reconnecting Hoʻohana Solar. This would further stabilize the electrical grid, but until work can be completed, customers from Salt Lake to East Honolulu who do have electricity are again asked to conserve power today.
Outage numbers represent a snapshot in time and change often as additional customers are restored and more outages occur, sometimes in the same area.
Our storm restoration process emphasizes safety and essential community services. Restorations take place in a manner designed to affect areas that serve emergency facilities and the greatest number of customers first. In some cases, we need to address accessibility issues such as downed trees that need to be cut and cleared. Whenever it’s possible to safely do some of these steps in parallel, we will do so. Even if you don’t see us in your neighborhood, rest assured that we are working to restore power as quickly as possible.
Customers can call our Trouble Lines to report any downed power lines, which should always be treated as energized and dangerous.
- Hawaiʻi Island: 1-855-304-9191
- Maui County: 1-855-304-8181
- Oʻahu: 1-855-304-1212
