MEDIA RELEASE

HILO, Jun. 28, 2017– Hawai‘i Electric Light reports that about 21,000 customers in various areas of the island experienced a brief power interruption this afternoon due to a sudden loss of generation when a combustion turbine unit (CT5) at its Keahole Power Plant tripped offline.

Protective devices automatically disconnected some customers temporarily to rebalance the available supply of power generation with the demand for power, stabilizing the grid and maintaining service for the majority of customers. Those affected experienced a temporary power interruption lasting about 10 minutes while backup generators were started.

The unit has since been returned to service. Customers who remain without service may call 969-6666. Hawai‘i Electric Light also posts outage information on its Twitter account @HIElectricLight with the hashtag #BigIslandOutage.