HELLco's Third World power system failure

[terracore]

Our power just came back from a 30 minute "rolling outage".  Nice that we received no notification and I found this information out only after researching why our power was out.  We have two incubators running and having a heads up would have made this less inconvenient.

https://www.hawaiianelectric.com/conserv...pm-tonight


CONSERVATION ALERT: Hawaii Island customers asked to reduce electricity use from 5 to 9 p.m. tonight

HILO, March 14, 2023 – Hawaiian Electric is asking Hawaii Island customers to conserve electricity from 5 to 9 p.m. tonight.

The need to conserve is prompted by the unavailability of two large generators. Hamakua Energy tripped offline and is undergoing repairs and Hawaiian Electric’s Hill Plant Unit #6 is offline due to a mechanical issue. Combined, these units supply about 80 megawatts of power. In addition, wind resources are forecast to be near zero. AES Waikoloa Solar also is working to supply additional electricity to the grid.

With conservation efforts by commercial and residential customers, Hawaiian Electric expects to have enough generating capacity available to meet the early evening peak demand, but it is possible rolling, 30-minute outages will be initiated if conservation measures fall short.

Using less electricity from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. helps ensure enough power is available when electricity use is highest. Conservation methods include turning off air conditioners and unnecessary lighting, shutting off water heaters, and delaying activities like cooking, showering, laundry, and dishwashing.

In advance of rolling outages, Hawaiian Electric will notify customers through social media. Please check @HIElectricLight on Twitter for updates.

Hawai’i Island Power Outage Notices for Tuesday, March 14th, 2023:
From HECO - Hawai’i Island:
We are initiating 30-minute rolling outages in parts of Hawaii Island tonight due to the unexpected loss of two large generators. The outages would be initiated to protect the electric system and prevent loss of power to more customers.
Outages will start in Ainaloa and Pahoa, Captain Cook to Honaunau and Halaula along Akoni Pule Hwy from Iole Rd to Niuli Pl at ~645p. The outages will be initiated around the island to protect the electric system and prevent loss of power to additional customers.

['elepaio]

You shoulda heard it tonight in Hilo, poor tings.. gasping.

Please avoid cooking, lighting and physical health but ZERO mention of holding off on EV charging.

Dang, can't wait for Green spolice, fire and public transpo to be so magically immune.

[leilanidude]

No wind and night time... perfect for that green energy. Plus, AES Solar is not yet fully operational. That is supposed to happen in April. AES may have been able to supply some battery output but not near enough. It is well past time for additional geothermal to handle more of the base load issues.

[Obie]

I got this message on Twitter about 4:30 yesterday.

We are initiating 30-minute rolling outages in parts of Hawaii Island tonight due to the unexpected loss of two large generators. The outages would be initiated to protect the electric system and prevent loss of power to more customers

[chrashd]

Better stock up on firewood for when they ban gas stoves.

[Durian Fiend]

The original post implies that an unexpected shutoff occurred early yesterday morning. Is that right? A 30 minute rolling outage before 6 AM would be surprising. Hard to believe that so called conservation efforts weren't adequate at this early morning hour. There should be enough redundancy engineered into the system for all generators to be well maintained, avoiding this potential problem. Helco's grid management does not inspire confidence.

---

Please avoid cooking, lighting and physical health but ZERO mention of holding off on EV charging...

The advisory strikes me as standard boilerplate language from the 20th century, in need of an update to reflect the growing use of high voltage batteries in cars and tools.   I certainly hope people can figure that out for themselves.  After all, the honor system is the only enforcement in place.

[Obie]

The conservation message was about 4:30 in the afternoon and the rolling blackout message was at6:30 pm.

The generation unit went offline at 6:00 am.

No solar or wind at that time.

It's really a shame we don't have a way to have geothermal power here. If there was only a source of heated water.

[Kiana]

“Outages will start in Ainaloa and Pahoa, Captain Cook to Honaunau and Halaula along Akoni Pule Hwy from Iole Rd to Niuli Pl at ~645p. The outages will be initiated around the island to protect the electric system and prevent loss of power to additional customers.”
Interesting that the outages seem to be in the less affluent island communities. No Kona or Waimea or resort areas. Hmmmmmm.   

[terracore]

Here's my rub:

Hellco sends me about one email per week telling me how great my new smart meter is.

But when they plan ahead of time to stop sending power to said meter, they send me nothing. I have to find out from social media exactly why my power is out, and oddly, exactly how long it is going to last. But only after the fact.

It's almost like.... their new meter is only for THEIR benefit. It's still a dumb meter on my end. Apparently my affinity to their "smart" meter can only result in marketing emails. Not real-time useful information to help me plan for running irrigation or incubators or anything that might actually benefit the community.

[AaronM]

“Outages will start in Ainaloa and Pahoa, Captain Cook to Honaunau and Halaula along Akoni Pule Hwy from Iole Rd to Niuli Pl at ~645p. The outages will be initiated around the island to protect the electric system and prevent loss of power to additional customers.”
Interesting that the outages seem to be in the less affluent island communities. No Kona or Waimea or resort areas. Hmmmmmm.   

If only we had a PUC who cared.

Kalakoa will have the best take on this imho.

Something along the lines of - Just enjoy life in Hawaii and stop worrying about life in Hawaii County.