Hawaii Electric Light Co. reported Friday that it reached an important milestone in its efforts to restore power to customers on the Big Island.
On Thursday, utility crews had succeeded in completing repairs to all of the “major damage” Tropical Storm Iselle had caused to the electric grid in Puna, and workers had begun small-scale repairs involving individual customers still without power.
“We’re really focused on responding to individual customer homes. We’re looking at mostly outages affecting single homes, or a couple of homes at a time,” said HELCO spokesman Darren Pai.
Work crews have been focusing over the past couple of weeks on putting up utility poles and closing large circuits that serve entire subdivisions and streets, he explained. That brought the majority of customers back onto the system. Now, crews are doing mostly quick repair jobs at the remaining homes that are still experiencing problems.
“Mostly, it’s reconnecting service connections from homes to power lines that service their streets,” he said.
As a result of the progress, the utility opted to make Friday the last day of operation for HELCO’s Customer Information Center at the Leilani Estates Community Center. Customers may now call 969-6666 for status updates.
About 200 customers remained without power Friday, Pai said. Electric line crews were spread out performing the smaller repair jobs within a wide number of neighborhoods, including Ainaloa, Hawaiian Acres, Fern Acres, Hawaiian Beaches, Hawaiian Paradise Park, Hamakua, Kalapana, Leilani Estates, Nanawale Estates, Orchidland Estates and upper Puna.
“We truly appreciate the patience and understanding our customers have shown. Our community has come together and supported each other throughout this process. We want our customers to know we’re not letting up and we’re committed to restoring service to everyone affected by the storm,” Pai said.
Utility crews continued to work with county and state agencies to clean up storm debris and damaged utility equipment. HELCO reminded residents to refrain from touching or moving any fallen poles, lines and other utility equipment.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.