Update on current (HEI) events

Hawaiian Electric Industries now confirms there is technology that would probably shorten islandwide power outages, but says it would cost tens of millions of dollars. I commend to your attention a blogpost by Rick Daysog of the Honolulu Advertiser... http://bizbites.honadvblogs.com/ I would still like to see a more specific cost accounting, but this seems to be at least slightly more detailed than whatn HEI has said before. The business community may not feel it's too expensive. As I wrote in a previous post, there may be a detailed explanation for NOT doing it which is entirely acceptable to the community. I just haven't heard it.  Some executives inside the electric company are having a hard time getting past their annoyance that people (not just me; I claim no special role in the public debate on this) have the temerity to question their decisions about this. Wanting to make something happen rather than merely to make trouble, I have deliberately confined my own criticism to this blog rather than raising cane before the wider audience on television. But I get the impression HEI management remains so convinced in the self-evidence wisdom of everything it does, it has not felt able to embrace the idea that it might do better. (There is a possibility that the company IS rethinking all of this, but in its own conference room.)

Comments

[Colleen Henion]

I agree with both blogs. HEI tends to think like "plantation management" of old. They blithely walked away from their insurance responsibilities on Kauai after Iniki. The insurance company was an HEI subsidiary BUT that didn't make any difference to this "kamaina company". HEI like so many of our other companies wave the "we are an island flag" to get out of doing the right thing instead of boosting their profit margin. In the meantime we continue to pay the ever increasing cost of electricity as we continue to decrease our home usage.