CHINATOWN, Hawaii (KHON2) — Partial reimbursements from Hawaiian Electric are coming to Downtown and Chinatown businesses after two major power outages in June, one of which lasted several days.
The utility company will only pay for some losses.
Hawaiian Electric will pay up to 50% of claims for inventory and equipment that was lost due to major power outages earlier in 2024 in Honolulu — the second major outage lasted from Monday, June 17 to Thursday, June 21 — but they are not admitting guilt or liability for the blackout.
“The investigation found that, you know, this is not something that we could reasonably control. However, you know, this was, you know, a really prolonged outage that had significant impacts on our customers. So as a gesture of goodwill, we felt like we had to do something,” Hawaiian Electric spokesperson Darren Pai said.
More than 400 businesses filed claims for damages — the Chinese Chamber of Commerce said the lion’s share of claims was over lost wages and revenue. Hawaiian Electric will not reimburse any percentage of those claims, but businesses said said something is better than nothing.
“It wasn’t their fault. Those guys worked hard to get everything back on. So it was just, you know, I’m delighted with what’s what we’re getting,” said Murphy’s Bar & Grill owner Don Murphy. “Which is pennies from heaven. For me, I really didn’t know that anybody would get anything.”
“The fact of the matter is, they’re willing to settle, I think is very magnanimous on their part without admitting liability, because to me, again, it’s a win-win situation,” Chinese Chamber of Commerce chair Wes Fong said.
Hawaiian Electric said an outside consultant determined the outage was caused by a failed splice, which is basically a connection between two cables.
“The investigation also found that we could not have reasonably prevented this from happening,” Pai said.
Pai added that it is standard for the company to pay up to 50% for broken equipment and lost inventory due to an outage, but not unearned wages and revenue.
“That’s typically how the process works,” Pai said.
“I’m sure a lot of people are going to be upset, but you know, that’s, that happens. ‘Stuff happens,’ as they say,” Murphy said, “I’m not sure they use ‘stuff.’”
The Chinese Chamber of Commerce said businesses do not have to accept the reimbursement, but will need to hire attorneys if they would like to pursue a bigger settlement.