Hawaii

Hawaii Is Bailing Out Its Wildfire-Causing Energy Company

Published

2 years ago

February 10, 2024

Hawaii Is Bailing Out Its Wildfire-Causing Energy Company

Last August, a deadly wildfire tore through Hawaii, erasing the town of Lahaina and killing over one hundred people. The state’s publicly traded utility corporation was found responsible; it is now facing a deluge of claims from residents seeking compensation for damages, as well as lawsuits from the insurance companies that have been paying out disaster claims.

Hawaii’s electricity is provided by a for-profit utility supplier that is granted monopoly power over energy distribution. In addition to its dominance of Hawaii’s power grid, Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc., (HEI) enjoys almost complete autonomy in the physical management of its power lines on the islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, and Molokai. Only residents of the island of Kauaʻi maintain some semblance of control over their electricity, through a resident-owned energy cooperative.

When massive winds from Hurricane Dora blew into Maui, HEI subsidiary Maui Electric Company (MECO) refused to respond to early calls to shut down the grid. This came even as fire-safety officials warned that a flash drought put most of the state in a Red Flag Warning, the highest possible fire alert issued by the National Weather Service.

More than thirty power lines went down as winds battered the island, but MECO remained silent — apparently refusing to cut power to downed lines that were sparking fires. In the fallout of the fires, it came to light that MECO had not properly insulated wires or maintained poles and surrounding vegetation. These are standard precautionary measures in most states, especially ones with significant wildfire and windstorm risk. Many lines were bare — i.e., lacking any insulation at all — a direct violation of state regulations dating back to 2002 that significantly increased the probability of ignition in surrounding vegetation.

Now, as HEI struggles to pay for damages, state regulators look set to bail out the negligent utility company.

Five months after the fire, legal fees, disaster relief bills, and settlements are piling up. A battery of personal claims against HEI prompted 142 insurance companies, including USAA, State Farm, Island Insurance, and Tradewind, to seek reimbursement for over $1 billion in claims they had paid to residents as of December 2023. The companies are following the lead of Maui County, which similarly filed suit against HEI on the grounds that the corporation’s negligence is to blame for property damage and loss of life.

Recent analysis estimates HEI could be on the hook for over $4.9 billion when the ashes clear. The corporation itself was only insured up to $165 million, a drop in the bucket compared to what they owe in damages combined with what insurers are seeking in reimbursement.

This scheme by insurance companies puts them in league with individual residents and the county in civil suits against HEI. This is not uncommon in catastrophe underwriting, as insurance companies will leave no stone unturned in trying to mitigate losses from natural disasters.

To that end, insurers often use gray areas in coverage to deny consumers’ claims related to flood or hurricane damage. But as the $1 billion in insurance payouts suggest, the insurance companies don’t seem to be fighting consumers’ claims. When it’s evident that a battery of claims cannot be denied, will not be sufficiently covered by reinsurance (the insurance that insurance companies themselves take out to protect against significant losses), and cannot be stalled in court, industry-wise lawyers will go after the next best offering: in this case, the utility company left holding the bag.

Soon after the announcement that the company had failed to de-energize its grid, the corporation’s long- and short-term bond ratings were downgraded by two of the “Big Three” credit-rating agencies, with Fitch lowering HEI’s grade to B on Rating Watch Negative and S&P lowering it to B-. The third of the Big Three, Moody’s, put HEI “under review for downgrade.” This means that lending companies would charge extremely high rates on anything HEI borrowed to pay its bills, whether those bills be to the people of Hawaii, state conservation efforts, insurance lawsuits, an infrastructure overhaul, or disaster relief funds.

But HEI has an important friend ready to help: the state of Hawaii. On January 23, state legislators introduced measures drafted by HEI to safeguard the company from bankruptcy by allowing it to raise costs to residents and issue a new bond covering the costly bill for starting the wildfire. Essentially, the state plans on issuing a low-APR, no-limit credit card that HEI can use to pay its bills, with minimal risk to the long-term financial health of the corporation. The monopoly’s survival is crucial to the state of Hawaii, which would lose 95 percent of its electrical coverage should HEI go bankrupt and cease operations. It is also crucial to the company’s boardroom.

Some supporters of the bailout say it is ultimately the best bet for residents of Hawaii, so long as the bonds are used to fund grid updates rather than lawsuits from insurance companies. The current deal would allow HEI to push the cost of the bonds — including interest — onto residents immediately; supporters argue that this would theoretically allow for avoidance of massive consumer rate hikes, which would inevitably follow in the long term should HEI be forced to borrow on the open market. Better to start paying a little bit extra over many years than a lot extra years down the road, when it comes time to pay back the high-rate bonds. But this crowd ignores the bigger picture — that the private debt of a for-profit company will be foisted on consumers regardless.

Whether in the short or long term, consumers are being made liable for the fire, the immediate costs, and the ensuing market fallout. Even if a resident receives an insurance payout, the insurance company is passing the ball to HEI, which is passing it to the state, which is ultimately turning it back over to the resident.

HEI vice president of corporate communications James Kelly claims that the utility doesn’t intend to use the bond proceeds to cover legal claims. But the state is not imposing any safeguards to ensure this, and there are no mechanisms to enforce transparency. In fact, legislators seem to have the opposite in mind — litigation and settlement costs are explicitly covered by the bonds.

An important question for Kelly, then, is how the utility does intend to process over $4.9 billion in legal claims if its current equity and insurance backing is so insufficient as to require a generous bailout by Hawaii residents. Why else would HEI directly include litigation and settlement contingencies in the legislative measure the company itself drafted, if not to use the bonds to cover those costs?

Pacific Gas and Electric Company — California’s energy utility — went through its own equity crisis following the 2018 Camp Fire. That fire resulted in at least eighty-five deaths and was found to be the result of similarly mismanaged power lines. A recent decision by the California judiciary hopes to save their for-profit energy corporation from the same type of bankruptcy facing HEI with big rate hikes, brought about by an $11 billion insurance settlement.

Both disasters might have been avoided with state-run utilities or publicly held energy cooperatives, which would be democratically accountable to residents. Had there been public, democratic oversight in place of a concern with profit maximization, HEI might have taken measures that prevented the wildfires from starting in the first place — like implementing the 2002 infrastructure regulation. Hawaii could take notes from the publicly owned New York Power Authority (NYPA), for instance. NYPA is the lowest-cost energy provider in New York State, which is theoretically bound by regulations set by the state comptroller.

Instead, Hawaiian consumers are not only bearing the burden of loss of life, land, and property caused by corporate negligence — they’re being forced to pick up the bill for the corporation’s negligence too. Here, utility deregulation has taken to such an extreme that the company at fault is allowed to build its own legislative life raft. This state of affairs is par for the course with private utilities: Hawaii needs HEI as the owner and operator of the vast majority of the state’s electrical grid. Yet the utility needs the state of Hawaii to help it avoid being eaten by the bigger fish it exposes itself to as a profit-generating corporation. Until utilities are publicly controlled, corporate boardrooms will dictate who ultimately pays utilities’ financial burden.

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Hawaii

Hawaii House and Senate approve budget agreement, sending bill to final votes

Published

9 hours ago

May 1, 2026

Press Room

Hawaii House and Senate approve budget agreement, sending bill to final votes

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Hawaiʻi State Senate and House of Representatives on Thursday approved House Bill No. 1800 CD1, the state’s supplemental budget bill for the fiscal biennium 2025-2027.

The measure was finalized in a joint conference committee after both chambers initially passed different versions. The bill will now be up for final reading in both chambers before heading to the Governor’s desk for his signature.

The appropriations are as follows:

General Fund

Fiscal Year 2026: $10.42 billion

Fiscal Year 2027: $10.63 billion

All Means of Financing

Fiscal Year 2026: $19.77 billion

Fiscal Year 2027: $20.31 billion

“This budget uses cost-saving measures to help keep our promise to address the high cost of living and deliver meaningful tax reform to Hawaii’s citizens, especially our working- and middle-class families. At the same time, we are strengthening the State’s resilience through responsible long-term investments that promote regional economic development and environmental stewardship,” said Senator Donovan M. Dela Cruz, Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means (Senate District 17 – Portion of Mililani, Mililani Mauka, portion of Waipi‘o Acres, Launani Valley, Wahiawā, Whitmore Village).

“The CIP budget reflects our commitment to protecting health and safety, preserving and modernizing state facilities, and investing in the critical infrastructure and public assets our communities rely on. These investments also support affordable housing, strengthen education, and advance economic development that will help sustain thriving communities across Hawai‘i,” stated Senator Sharon Y. Moriwaki, Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means (Senate District 12 – Waikīkī, Ala Moana, Kaka‘ako, McCully).

“This budget reflects the House’s continued collaboration with the Administration and the Senate to take a balanced, responsible approach to preserving core government services and strengthening our safety net for Hawaiʻi’s residents—especially those who rely on these services as a lifeline,” said Representative Chris Todd, Chair of the House Committee on Finance (House District 3 – portions of Hilo, Keaukaha, Orchidlands Estate, Ainaloa, Hawaiian Acres, Fern Acres, and parts of Kurtistown and Kea‘au). “It prioritizes critical needs across housing, agriculture, natural resources, transportation, public safety, and economic development, setting a strong foundation as we respond to federal funding cuts that have impacted Hawaiʻi and required the state to urgently step up to support our residents.”

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Hawaii

Damage reports continue to grow after Kona low storms

Published

21 hours ago

May 1, 2026

Press Room

Damage reports continue to grow after Kona low storms

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The city has received nearly 1,600 damage reports so far after the back-to-back Kona low storms.

Dawn Takeuchi Apuna, director of the Department of Planning and Permitting, provided the information Thursday while testifying in front of the Honolulu City Council Zoning & Planning Committee.

“It was very interesting just to understand, go house to house, to really see the damage, understand what people are going through,” said Apuna about validating the data with government employees.

The DPP provided the following data:

23 homes destroyed
260 homes need major repairs
32 temporarily inaccessible
436 homes sustained minor damage
442 homes sustained cosmetic damage, but are safe to live in
393 homes sustained no visible damage

Apuna explained that major damage means floodwaters reached more than 12 inches and covered a major outlet. Minor damage means floodwaters reached below 12 inches on a structure.

“With this information, FEMA was able to take that data and take it to the feds to determine the disaster declaration,” said Apuna.

Representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration went out into the community to validate the information.

“It was important that we went out right after the storms to assess flood lines within houses and to really understand the level of damage,” said Apuna.

She said close to 56 percent of those affected did not have flood insurance. “That’s where FEMA comes in. If you don’t have insurance, FEMA hopefully can cover that cost.”

Apuna testified that the DPP is providing residents with the tools, resources, and guidance needed to restore structures.

DPP also received 17 new permit applications from flood victims.

“Six are repair permits, two are alteration or addition, which we need to look at because they might not be necessarily Kona low-affected,” said Apuna.

Staff can waive permitting fees on a case-by-case basis.

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Hawaii

Tin Can Mailman: Preserving Hawaii’s past, one paper treasure at a time

Published

1 day ago

April 30, 2026

Press Room

Tin Can Mailman: Preserving Hawaii’s past, one paper treasure at a time

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Oswalt-Sanchez owns Tin Can Mailman, tucked into Honolulu’s Chinatown along Nuʻuanu Avenue—a shop where history doesn’t sit behind glass.

“Generations progress, and they age out; people don’t realize how special some of this older stuff is,” says Christopher Owalt-Sanchez. “It’s all little, tiny pieces that if we don’t talk about and we don’t share, it’s going to be forgotten.”

It’s stacked, shelved, and cataloged in the form of everyday artifacts: vintage canned food labels, old travel brochures, restaurant menus, and movie lobby cards that once helped sell an evening at the theater.

Inside, you’ll find lobby cards advertising films shot in Hawaiʻi or centered on island life—bright, nostalgic snapshots from a time when going to the movies was an event.

“This is back when movie theaters only had one screen, and the lobby was like a very posh, sort of, like a nicer hotel lobby,” Owalt-Sanchez explains. “So, they would utilize every little bit of space. So, these would have been in the lobby, and they would have been advertised—a movie that could have only played one night or a movie that was coming.”

The shop also holds travel brochures from United Airlines and Aloha Airlines, along with menus from restaurants that helped define eras of Waikīkī dining—but are now long gone. Names like Ciro’s, Lau Yee Chai, and Tops live on in print, offering a glimpse into what people ordered, what it cost, and what “a night out” looked like decades ago.

“You know, you go to a lot of places now, new places that are opening up—the menus are digital. You scan a QR code,” he says. “Here, we’ve actually got the menu. You can see what people were eating. You can see how much it costs and think, that’s really interesting—that you can get, you know, a double bourbon for 25 cents.”

And it’s not just paper ephemeral. Tin Can Mailman is also home to collectibles and curiosities that blur the line between souvenir and story—objects that spark memories for some and discoveries for others.

A Shop With a Story of Its Own

Even Tin Can Mailman’s name comes with history—and the business has traveled nearly as much as the items it sells.

“Well, the Tin Can Mailman originally opened in the 1970s in a town called Arcata, California. It was originally a bookstore,” Owalt-Sanchez says. After a divorce, the original owners split: “The lady kept her Tin Can Mailman in Arcata, and the man took his Tin Can Mailman to Kauaʻi, opening in the mid-1980s.”

Over the years, the store moved through roughly five locations on Kauaʻi. The owner sold it in 2003, died in 2005, and the shop eventually made its way to Oʻahu—relocating to Chinatown in November 2009. The Arcata store, Owalt-Sanchez adds, still exists today, but the two are no longer connected.

So why “Tin Can Mailman”?

“He named it after an island in Tonga, where they would take the mail and weld it shut in big tin biscuit cans or cookie cans,” he explains. “And the men would swim out to the passing ships and deliver the mail and get the new mail and then bring it back to the island. And those were the tin can mailmen.”

The practice dates back more than a century, he says—first as a necessity, later as a novelty, even evolving into what was known as “tin can canoe mail.”

Keeping the Details From Disappearing

Owalt-Sanchez says Tin Can Mailman has sourced items from all over the world.

“Tin Can Mailman has bought things as far away as Argentina and as close as across the street,” he says.

But for him, the point isn’t simply collecting—it’s connecting. He sees each label, menu, card, and brochure as a fragment of lived experience, especially as older generations fade and their everyday stories go with them.

“I like to tell you about what the industry was like in the 40s, what was selling in the 40s, what people were sending home,” he says. “Because that generation is, you know, slowly disappearing. And if we don’t talk about it, it’s just gone. That’s all, little pieces of love and little pieces of light that are just float away into the wind.”

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