You know why we lost power. Even HECO says they know why.
TREES!
Electrical poles played a major role in the outages following Lala. At least 60 were broken on the Big Island alone, with more than half concentrated in Kaʻū. At least 85 lines went down on the island, most of them in Puna.
HECO is dragging their feet. Private subdivisions could act. HPP recently cleared Kaloli Drive of trees 15-20 feet off the roadway on the Hilo side of the road. That could have prevented most trees from falling on electric wires. Except the power lines are on the other side of the road.
Why did HPP cut on the Hilo side?
Could they also cut on the Pahoa side?
What are the easements/setbacks for main roads and side streets in HPP?
08-24-2026, 12:35 AM (This post was last modified: 08-24-2026, 12:46 AM by Punatang.)
TREES!
They paved Paradise Park...
The song and the line, "Took all the trees, put 'em in a tree museum, charged the people a dollar and a half just to see 'em", was inspired by a trip to Hawaii in the 1960's.
08-24-2026, 12:39 AM (This post was last modified: 08-24-2026, 12:40 AM by punikahakaiferret.
Edit Reason: Addl info
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Exactly right, HotPE!
In this case, that saying "Trees Are The Answer" takes on a whole sadly darker meaning.
Wish there was some way that the many vacant lots in Puna that have "ghost owners" could somehow be held liable for allowing junk trees to grow on the property so close to where they could impact utilities, or some sort of an agreement that if the trees need to be cut down on their property, that they are having to pay for it, whether in the form of a lien against the property or what, but these ghost owners should not be getting off scot-free for allowing junk trees to interfere with utilities.
The other obvious solution is what's been done in rare areas around here or quite a lot on the mainland, and that is burying the utility lines.
That’s a good idea. Treat specific species of large trees within the easement zone of electric lines as taxable assets, like the county would assess a home. It then becomes less expensive in the long run for a property owner to remove the tree, and reduce their tax liability.
Today is 10 day without power ……HELCO broke the promise of restoring power on 23 …….and People are accepting this quietly without any obvious resentment and objection.
I am feeling defeated and powerless………..
08-24-2026, 06:16 PM (This post was last modified: 08-24-2026, 06:50 PM by Punatang.)
That is genius! And then, people who can't afford their property taxes as it is, much less the tree removal or additional taxes for tree crimes can be foreclosed on by the county, evicted from their land and homes, and their peoperty can be auctioned for the back taxes and penalties, to better people who can afford to maintain things the way we want them. Problem solved. Naturally, we will need to send additional county employees out with cameras or drones or Flock type solutions and such, to take pictures from every angle of all of our homes and land and that will also create jobs and contracts that the taxpayers can cover and we will have lots of great new data we can use for more things like detecting additional infractions of all kinds. Brilliant. Love it. Sign me up.
ETA: Darnok, I am so very sorry. That doesn't seem right at all. Do you have backup systems or support that is getting you through this?
ETA2: Can someone help me with the definition of "ghost owner"? Do they pay taxes now? What does that process look like? Are un-permitted homes, yurts, tarps, pallet palaces, Rob kine container homes, etc., exempted? What if they are lowkey camouflaged? I guess some kind of Flock in the sky can sort it all out.
08-24-2026, 07:17 PM (This post was last modified: 08-24-2026, 07:19 PM by punikahakaiferret.
Edit Reason: Clarification, spelling
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"Ghost owners" to me are those who bought a vacant lot waaaay back when-whenever (like in Hawaiian Beaches, there were a *lot* of these lots that were marketed and sold to literal busloads of Japanese buyers brought to the subdivision back in the...'80s? per my parents who had a house in that area.)
The owners continue to pay property tax on these lots but chances are very good they have never laid eyes on them since purchase, and quite possibly they never even saw them in person, but just on paper.
The Hawaiian Beaches water company office has an amazing map on the wall showing what the "plan" had been for the subdivision way back when. Several shopping centers, a golf course along the shoreline (which is why the utilities are buried along that stretch), of course the polo field and stables that are still standing, parks, pools...just a crazy amount of development that never came to fruition.
Invasive trees and plants have taken over these lots, posing hazards to adjoining lots, utility lines, and poles. Even if you treat your property for fire ants, you will continue to get them because the adjoining lots aren't being treated or maintained.
So, as far as assessing and taxing these lots, I am all for it. Maybe it will impel the ghost owners to actually tend for/caretake the property they bought, or opt to sell it so people who want to build on them and care for/landscape appropriately can.
I, as we all should know, am a huge fan of tiny homes. Would love to see zoning allow for multiple tiny homes with common areas on a single property...use the available land in beneficial ways by providing multiple homes.
people who can't afford their property taxes as it is
Who pays to remove trees that damage power lines?
Vacant lot owners? No.
County residents who live here in their community, pay an electric bill that is increased every time HECO logs an expense (tree trimming, grid repairs at double time or triple time for workers) on their balance sheet? Yes.
Residents pay to remove those trees on vacant lots.
Shouldn’t the owners be responsible for their own lot, and not people nearby who also need to throw away food and live without running water?
