Hawaiian Electric Company

Last Friday was the deadline for lawmakers to move bills out of their final committee hearings. But Gov. Josh Green tried to resurrect a key wildfire mitigation measure over the weekend.

Gov. Josh Green on Thursday urged state lawmakers to take action on wildfire recovery measures in the final days of the legislative session, saying that the legislature's "inaction" will place the state in danger of seeing increased energy costs.

A controversial measure to keep Hawaiian Electric in good financial standing after the Maui wildfires has died in the state Senate. The bill would have allowed HECO to issue ratepayer-backed bonds to fund wildfire mitigation efforts.

While the state is still dealing with the aftermath of the Maui wildfires, the state legislature is considering a measure to address property damage in the case of future catastrophic wildfires.The measure would allow stakeholders to pay into a wildfire relief fund that would compensate property owners in the case of another wildfire.

The statement released by Maui County provided clarifications on various details including when Mayor Richard Bissen issued a county emergency proclamation. The county says it produced hundreds of pages of documents to investigators. State Attorney General Anne Lopez says she welcomes the county supplementing the facts.

Hawaiian Electric urged Hawaiʻi Island customers to conserve energy last week to avoid rolling blackouts. The island has had an "extremely" tight supply of energy over the last few weeks after HECO's independent power producer Hamakua Energy Partners went offline.

Despite sizable public opposition, lawmakers are racing to finalize a bill that could pass the costs of the Maui wildfires onto ratepayers. HPR's Maddie Bender and Savannah Harriman-Pote explain what that means for Hawaiian Electric and its customers.

Hawaiʻi's two electric utilities briefed the Senate on Thursday about their wildfire mitigation efforts since the Aug. 8 fires. The vast majority of the 3.5-hour briefing was dedicated to Hawaiian Electric.

A new report released by Hawaiʻi Attorney General Anne Lopez includes a minute-by-minute analysis of the actions taken by emergency organizations and first responders, as well as an assessment of the environmental conditions that exacerbated the Lahaina fire in August 2023. It does not, however, determine the cause of the fire. HPR's Ashley Mizuo and Savannah Harriman-Pote have more.

Hawaiian Electric could face close to $5 billion in potential liabilities from the lawsuits filed over the Maui wildfires, according to the consulting firm Capstone. The Conversation talked to Capstone analysts Alyssa Lu and Josh Price as state lawmakers prepare to decide on legislation that could impact HECO's bottom line.