Hawaiian Electric is projecting nearly $500 million in wildfire mitigation spending over the next three years after state regulators approved the utility’s 2025–2027 wildfire mitigation plan, a decision that also clears the way for the company to seek recovery of those costs from customers.
The Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission approved the plan this week, finding it substantially complies with state wildfire mitigation guidelines, while cautioning that any future cost recovery requests will face separate review.
After accounting for about $52 million in anticipated federal and state grant funding, Hawaiian Electric estimates its net wildfire mitigation spending at approximately $483 million from 2025 through 2027.
The PUC has required such two-year plans from Hawaiian Electric since the Maui wildfires, which killed 102 people and destroyed much of Lahaina.
The spending plan includes several major cost drivers. Hawaiian Electric projects about $60 million to install covered conductors on roughly 56 miles of overhead lines on Oʻahu, Maui and Hawaiʻi Island by the end of 2027, at an average cost of about $1.07 million per mile. More than half of that work is concentrated on Maui, reflecting higher wildfire risk.
Vegetation management and inspections account for another $41.5 million, while asset inspections and repairs total about $54.7 million over the three-year period. The company also forecasts $28 million for situational awareness tools, including weather stations, cameras and monitoring systems.
Grid modernization tied to wildfire mitigation represents another major investment. Hawaiian Electric estimates $89.1 million in grid modernization costs associated with the wildfire plan from 2025 to 2027, though those costs are being pursued through a separate regulatory docket under the utility’s extraordinary project recovery mechanism.
Smaller allocations include funding for community outreach and communications, public safety power shutoff notifications, management and governance, and about $1.5 million to establish an Ignition Management Office to oversee wildfire risk reduction.
Any customer rate impacts tied to wildfire mitigation spending would require separate commission approval. Hawaiian Electric has filed a cost recovery request related to its wildfire mitigation plan that is currently under review in a separate proceeding, according to Deborah Kwan, communications officer for the Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission, who provided details to Aloha State Daily.
Kwan said Hawaiian Electric may also seek to finance some wildfire mitigation investments through securitization, a mechanism authorized under Act 258 passed during the 2024 legislative session. The commission is awaiting Hawaiian Electric’s application seeking approval of that financing method, she said, adding that regardless of the approach, any costs the utility seeks to recover will be reviewed to ensure they were prudently incurred.
Hawaiian Electric has estimated potential monthly bill impacts if the costs are approved. “For typical residential customers on Oʻahu the estimated monthly bill impact is $1. For Hawaiʻi Island it’s $3 and for Maui it’s $5,” Darren Pai, senior communications consultant for Hawaiian Electric, told ASD. “That still has to be reviewed and approved by the PUC before it can actually happen.”
In approving the wildfire mitigation plan, the commission adopted progress metrics to track Hawaiian Electric’s compliance and identified areas where the utility must continue to improve, including wildfire risk modeling, project timelines, workforce planning and protections for vulnerable populations and critical facilities.
Kwan told ASD the commission is also in the early stages of establishing a rulemaking proceeding to determine a utility liability cap, a step regulators say is required before the state can consider creating a wildfire recovery fund. The rulemaking process will include opportunities for public input, she said.
A separate actuarial study referenced in the commission’s wildfire recovery fund analysis would require legislative authorization, Kwan said. The study cited modeling by Hawaiian Electric estimating potential wildfire damages of roughly $300 million per year.
The commission also held two public meetings in April to gather community input on the wildfire mitigation plan and recovery fund study. Kwan said regulators have closely monitored Hawaiian Electric’s public engagement efforts since the Maui wildfires and noted improvements to the utility’s public safety power shutoff program based on community feedback.
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