Hawaiian Electric’s proposed wildfire prevention surcharge stalls

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Hawaiian Electric’s wildfire safety plan is getting poor reviews at the Public Utilities Commission, which is also slowing its effort to charge customers for the costs of the improvements.

Hawaiian Electric submitted its wildfire safety strategy to the Public Utilities Commission in January , then in May submitted a request to charge customers $350 million over three years to implement the plan.

But the PUC says it needs more time to review both the plan and the money to pay for it.

Henry Curtis, a clean energy advocate from Life of the Land, said, “HECO is trying to catch up to something they should have addressed years ago, and they want to bill rate payers for the fact that they’ve been delaying dealing with the issue.”

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