Oʻahu land use: the brief, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026
Hawaiian Electric has asked the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission to charge customers for $30.5 million in new wildfire-safety operating costs from 2027 through 2029, plus about $4.8 million a year after that, with a 3% annual increase, according to the utility's application dated Oct. 1, 2026. [source: HECO application, Docket No. 2026-0221, pp. 2, 19]
The PUC's wildfire-mitigation page lists that Oct. 1 filing as Docket No. 2026-0221. [source: PUC Wildfire Mitigation Plans page]
The application says the request is "in addition to" the $350.3 million in 2025–2027 wildfire-plan costs the PUC approved, subject to conditions, in Decision and Order No. 42720 on June 25, 2026. [source: Application, p. 3]
Decision and Order No. 42720 says Hawaiian Electric estimates that plan will cost approximately $350.3 million from 2025 through 2027. [source: D&O 42720, p. 13]
The utility says the costs respond to areas for continued improvement the PUC set out in Decision and Order No. 42228, issued Dec. 31, 2025, when it approved the 2025–2027 wildfire plan. [source: Application, p. 2]
As quoted in the application, the PUC wrote that Hawaiian Electric's "proposed spend on public preparedness and outreach are minimal compared to its overall 2025-2027 WMP costs." [source: Application, p. 2, quoting D&O 42228]
The application says the Commission noted that the amount allocated toward data management and data governance in the 2025–2027 plan is minimal. [source: Application, p. 2]
Of the $30.5 million, the application assigns $15.4 million to a field-validated central registry of utility equipment, $9.8 million to proposed Public Safety Power Shutoff standards, and $5.3 million to cleaning up and standardizing outage and ignition data. [source: Application, pp. 11, 19]
The application describes Public Safety Power Shutoff as de-energizing facilities when extreme wind and fire weather create conditions in which energized facilities may present an ignition risk. [source: HECO application, PSPS description]
The $9.8 million includes $4.8 million for a portal with shutoff meter data and de-energization boundaries, $2.8 million for annual shutoff exercises, $1.6 million for outreach to people with access and functional needs, and $0.6 million to support customers who rely on electricity for life functions. [source: Application, p. 13]
By company, $20.2 million would fall to Hawaiian Electric, which serves Oʻahu, $5.2 million to Hawaiʻi Electric Light and $5.1 million to Maui Electric. [source: Application, p. 19]
If the costs are recovered through the Exceptional Project Recovery Mechanism, Hawaiian Electric estimates a typical residential bill would rise each month by $0.56 for Hawaiian Electric (Oʻahu, 500 kWh), $0.79 for Hawaiʻi Electric Light (500 kWh), $0.71 for Maui Electric's Maui Division (500 kWh), $0.53 on Lānaʻi (400 kWh) and $0.59 on Molokaʻi (400 kWh), a range of 53 to 79 cents. [source: Application, pp. 3, 26]
The companies say they will not collect any approved costs through the EPRM until the PUC issues an order on their application for a financing order under HRS § 269G-2. [source: Application, pp. 3–4]
Their Oct. 9, 2026 financing-order application asks for about $531 million in bonds with a scheduled 30-year life, and it counts this work as up to about $31 million for the 2026–2027 wildfire-plan update filed in Docket No. 2026-0221. [source: Bond application, Book 1, pp. 3–4, 29, 47]
The PUC lists that Oct. 9 filing as Docket No. 2026-0235. [source: PUC Wildfire Mitigation Plans page]
For that full bond package, Hawaiian Electric estimates an average residential bill impact of $2.08 a month across its service areas. [source: Bond application, Book 1, p. 59]
Hawaiian Electric did not respond to a Ledger request for comment by the 5 p.m. HST Nov. 4 deadline. [source: Hawai'i Ledger newsroom]
← the brief of Nov. 2, 2026 · every brief for Oʻahu land use
Basis. Written by the Ledger in a session on Nov. 10, 2026 from the records linked in each sentence; it says what was on the record that day, in plain words, and does not predict outcomes or take sides. What has happened since is on Oʻahu land use's page. Corrections: the corrections log.