The Maui News

Power was out for the entire island of Molokai on Tuesday morning, and was restored to most customers by mid-afternoon, according to Hawaiian Electric.

Shayna Decker, Hawaiian Electric spokeswoman, said that the island-wide outage, which impacted 3,250 customers, occurred at about 11 a.m. when a single generating unit at the Palaau Power Plant was tripped.

“We are looking into other factors that may have led to the systemwide disruption,” Decker said.

Power was restored to the majority of customers by 3 p.m., and crews were working Tuesday night to bring a remaining 280 customers in the Kualapuu area back online.

“We apologize for any inconveniences this may have caused,” Decker added. “We thank the Molokai community for their continued understanding and patience as our crews safely work to restore power as quickly as possible.”

Also Tuesday, a portion of a Kihei roadway was closed for about three hours while Hawaiian Electric crews secured a leaning pole.

The eastbound lane of East Lipoa Street was shut down at its intersection with South Kihei Road around 12:05 p.m for the work. The lane reopened shortly after 3 p.m. and electrical service was not impacted, according to Decker.

Hawaiian Electric recently consolidated its subsidiaries, including Maui Electric Co., under its name.

Operations in Maui County, Hawaii island and Oahu are being referred to as Hawaiian Electric as of this month.