Hawaiian Electric asks Oahu customers to conserve power on September 16

News Release from HECO September 16, 2014

Honolulu - Hawaiian Electric is asking Oahu customers to conserve electricity use this evening, especially between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m., as this afternoon’s hot, muggy weather is driving up air conditioning use and demand for electricity more than normal. In addition, the entire power plant operated by Kalaeloa Partners, an independent power producer, is out of service due to unexpected repairs. The light winds also mean there is little power being provided by the island’s wind farms.

(CLUE: Kalaeloa Partners power purchase agreement with HECO expires in May, 2016, hint, hint....)

“We appreciate our customers’ understanding. As we saw last week, cooperation from our customers helps because every little bit of energy we conserve makes a difference,” said Darren Pai, Hawaiian Electric spokesman.

As a precaution, to ensure sufficient power is available to meet the early evening peak demand for electricity, Hawaiian Electric is asking residential customers to conserve energy.  The time between 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. is especially critical, when customer usage normally climbs due to early evening cooking, bathing and other activities. Suggested steps include:  turning off or lessening use of air conditioners, delaying hot showers and dishwashing activities, and minimizing cooking until later in the evening.

Hawaiian Electric is also asking its larger commercial customers to voluntarily reduce electricity usage.  System operators will also work on further reducing the demand for power by using Hawaiian Electric’s demand response programs. These voluntary programs help lower the overall use of electricity by reducing the energy output of certain appliances or equipment, such as water heaters for participating residential customers and non-essential lighting and heating or cooling systems for participating commercial customers.

Although Hawaiian Electric anticipates it will be able to serve the evening peak demand for electricity, available backup generation reserves will be very low. Should demand for electricity remain high and another unplanned loss of generation occurs, power outages may occur.

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Hawaiian Electric asks Oahu customers to conserve power

News Release from HECO September 8, 2014

HONOLULU, September 8, 2014 – Hawaiian Electric is asking Oahu customers to conserve electricity use this evening, especially between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m., due to:

• The unavailability of two major generators -- one operated by independent power producer, Kalaeloa Partners, and one at Hawaiian Electric's Waiau power plant
• Continued hot, muggy weather driving up air conditioning use and demand for electricity

As a precaution, to ensure sufficient power is available to meet the early evening peak demand for electricity, Hawaiian Electric is asking residential customers to conserve energy. The time between 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. is especially critical, when customer usage normally climbs due to early evening cooking, bathing and other activities.

Kalaeloa Partners normally provides 208 megawatts of generation to support the island's energy needs. The plant went out of service unexpectedly Sunday evening and has since restored about half of its output. The cause of the plant's initial problems is still under investigation by Kalaeloa Partners with assistance from Hawaiian Electric.

In addition, a 90 megawatt generator at Hawaiian Electric's Waiau power plant experienced problems earlier and will not be back online until later this evening, after the hours when customers use the most electricity. Other resources such as wind farms are normally able to assist in meeting evening electricity needs, however, they are not projected to do so tonight due to the light winds across the island.

Although Hawaiian Electric anticipates it will be able to serve the evening peak demand for electricity, available backup generation reserves will be very low. Should demand for electricity remain high and another unplanned loss of generation occurs, power outages may occur. Hawaiian Electric is also asking its larger commercial customers to voluntarily reduce electricity usage.

Suggested steps include: turning off or lessening use of air conditioners, delaying hot showers and dishwashing activities, and minimizing cooking until later in the evening.

"We appreciate everyone's understanding and cooperation. We understand the evening hours are an especially inconvenient time to cut back on electricity, but with everyone's help we can avoid an emergency situation," said Darren Pai, Hawaiian Electric spokesperson.

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Hawaiian Electric issues all clear

News Release from HECO September 8, 2014

HONOLULU, September 8, 2014 – Hawaiian Electric announced that the evening peak for electricity use has passed, without any power outages. At approximately 8:30 pm, Hawaiian Electric crews at the Waiau Power Plant were able to begin producing power from a 90 megawatt generating unit that had been out of service, providing sufficient generating reserves for customers to resume their normal use of electricity.

“We’d like to thank our customers for their patience and cooperation. Every little bit helps in these situations, so we appreciate their efforts to conserve energy on a hot, muggy night,” said Darren Pai, Hawaiian Electric spokesman.

A combination of factors led Hawaiian Electric to take the precaution of asking customers to conserve power, including:

• The unavailability of two major generators -- one operated by independent power producer, Kalaeloa Partners, and one at Hawaiian Electric’s Waiau power plant
• Continued hot, muggy weather driving up air conditioning use and demand for electricity

Hawaiian Electric also asked its larger commercial customers to voluntarily reduce electricity use. As forecast, winds were light across the island, so resources such as wind farms were not able to produce enough power to assist in meeting evening needs for electricity.

While power plant crews worked on the generating unit at Waiau, system operators worked on further reducing the demand for power by using Hawaiian Electric’s demand response programs. These voluntary programs helped lower the overall demand for electricity by reducing the energy output of certain appliances or equipment, such as water heaters for participating residential customers and non-essential lighting and heating or cooling systems for participating commercial customers.

The power plant owned by Kalaeloa Partners, an independent company that sells power to Hawaiian Electric, continues to operate at about half its maximum output of 208 megawatts. The cause of the plant’s initial problems is still under investigation by Kalaeloa Partners with assistance from Hawaiian Electric.

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