UPDATE: 8:15 p.m
Hawaiian Electric said power was restored to all downtown Honolulu customers as of 8 p.m.
Power in the downtown areas started coming on around 7:20 p.m., about nine hours after the outage began for most customers, the company said in a news release.
“We know this was an extremely challenging day for our customers in the downtown area and Chinatown, especially businesses and government offices. We thank them for their patience and offer our sincere apologies for the disruption,” Hawaiian Electric spokesman Darren Pai said.
Crews and technicians will remain on standby overnight and monitor the downtown grid and the Iwilei substation where equipment was damaged by the incident, company officials said.
Hawaiian Electric said customers should monitor the company’s social media accounts and local news outlets for any changes in grid status downtown, especially before going to work Friday.
7:20 pm
Hawaiian Electric said power has been restored to some customers and that crews are still working on repairs to safely restore power to remaining affected customers.
7 pm
Hawaiian Electric said crews are still working this evening and expects power to be restored in a few hours.
4 in the afternoon
Hawaiian Electric said repair crews are making progress and expect power to be restored to the downtown Honolulu area by early evening.
“We apologize for the disruption caused by this outage, and we know this is especially challenging for businesses and government offices,” Hawaiian Electric spokesman Darren Pai said in a news release. “Our crews are working as quickly and safely as possible to restore power and get everyone back by early evening.”
>> PHOTO: Power outage shuts down downtown Honolulu
According to the company, most of Honolulu’s downtown area is served by a network of underground cables that run beneath streets. That network was originally built in the 1960s and 1970s, Hawaiian Electric said, and while sections have been updated and maintained over the decades, much of the original cable remains in service.
1:15 in the afternoon
Hawaiian Electric Co . says the downtown Honolulu outage that has snarled traffic and closed businesses and government offices is likely to continue into the late afternoon or early evening.
Company officials said in an afternoon news release that the outage, which began around 10 a.m., affects about 900 customers throughout the downtown area, including Chinatown, the State Capitol, the U.S. Post Office, state courthouses and the federal building. Traffic signals throughout the area are without power and police officers are directing traffic at many intersections.
“The incident came as a result of a series of events that started around 21:30 on Wednesday, when an outage affected the area between Peshkopi and Mililani streets in the city center,” officials said in the release. “That outage damaged an underground cable that supplies power to the downtown area.
“Then shortly after 10am on Thursday, the equipment at the Iwilei substation suffered a power overload. This caused wider disruption.”
The outage affects about “900 customer accounts, but many of them are office buildings and metered condominiums that have hundreds of tenants,” they said.
According to the news release, Hawaiian Electric crews are working to repair cables in underground vaults beneath the roads and damaged equipment at the Iwilei substation. “Crews anticipate completing repairs and restoring power by late afternoon or early evening, assuming no additional challenges are encountered,” officials said.
Previous coverage
A power outage in downtown Honolulu has shut down many government offices and knocked down many traffic signals in the area this morning.
City officials are reminding the public to treat dark traffic signals as a comprehensive stop.
As of 11 a.m., most traffic signals in the Downtown-Chinatown districts, which stretch from River to Alakea streets and between Nimitz Expressway and Beretania Street, are out of service.
Honolulu police are helping direct traffic at major intersections, according to city officials.
This morning multiple power outages occurred throughout downtown Honolulu affecting numerous state buildings including but not limited to the Hawaii State Capitol, Courthouse, Kalanimoku, Kamamalu, Keoneana, Office Tower State, No. 1. Capitol and Kekaunaoha Buildings, according to the Department of Accounting and General Services.
DAGS said state offices in the affected buildings will be closed to the public until further notice.
Motorists should obey all traffic rules and drive with patience and aloha, HECO officials said.
Hawaiian Electric said around 10 a.m. that repair crews were on site in downtown Honolulu.