Sep. 15—Hawaiian Electric Co.’s top executive, the chair of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission and Hawaii’s chief energy officer will be questioned by Congress about the Aug. 8 Lahaina fires that killed 115 and displaced 7, 500 people.
Hawaiian Electric Co.’s top executive, the chair of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission and Hawaii’s chief energy officer will be questioned by Congress about the Aug. 8 Lahaina fires that killed 115 and displaced 7, 500 people.
The first hearing on the disaster will be held by the U.S. Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Chair Rep. Cathy Mc Morris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., said in a news release Thursday the hearings will happen on Capitol Hill on Sept. 28.
Shelee Kimura, president and CEO of Hawaiian Electric ; Leodoloff R. Asuncion Jr., chair of the PUC ; and Mark B. Glick, the state’s chief energy officer, have been invited to attend the hearing, and the members expect them to testify, according to the committee.
“As we have done with all the inquiries regarding the events of Aug. 8, we stand ready to share what we know about what happened on Maui as well as the need to address increasing threats from extreme weather events moving forward, ” Darren Pai, manager of external communications for HECO, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in a statement.
Glick told the Star-Advertiser in a statement that his office is preparing a response to the committee’s letter, and plans to discuss those issues with members at the hearing.
“I look forward to working with the committee and other federal partners to assist Maui as it recovers from this tragedy, ” said Glick.
Glick’s statement to the committee will be made public after it is submitted.
Asuncion did not respond to the Star-Advertiser’s request for comment about his invitation to testify.
Rodgers and Griffith, along with Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee Chair Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., announced the House investigation in August.
“In our capacity as Chairs of the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the U.S. House of Representatives and its respective energy policy and oversight subcommittees, we are empowered to oversee energy supply, reliability of all power, and regulation of energy resources throughout the country, ” they wrote in a letter announcing the investigation. “To that end, we seek a fuller understanding of the role, if any, of the electric infrastructure in this tragic event.”
In addition to the House investigation, Hawaiian Electric is facing a salvo of lawsuits claiming its downed poles and electrical equipment sparked the Aug. 8 Maui fires that killed at least 115 people ; destroyed or damaged an estimated 2, 200 buildings, mostly homes ; and incinerated much of the historic town of Lahaina, causing at least $5.5 billion in damage.
The plaintiffs have included families of people who died, residents left homeless by the fires, Maui County and investors in the company’s publicly traded stock, which has been pummelled on Wall Street in the aftermath of the fires.
Hawaiian Electric Industries stock closed at $13.23 a share at the end of trading Thursday, down from $37.36 a share on Aug. 7, the day before the Maui fires.
