Maui County accused Hawaiian Electric of negligently failing to shut off power despite exceptionally high winds and dry conditions — saying that the destruction from the deadly Aug. 8 fires could have been avoided if the company had taken essential actions. Outrage towards Hawaiian Electric grew asindicated that sparks from power lines ignited fires as utility poles snapped in the winds, which were driven by a passing hurricane.
Late Thursday, the company said it would suspend its quarterly dividend of 36 cents per share, starting in the third quarter, in order to improve its cash position. “The investigative and legal processes needed to potentially absolve the utility of the mounting wildfire-related liabilities are likely multiyear," the analysts wrote."As such, we remain of the opinion that a bankruptcy reorganization is still perhaps the most plausible path forward given what appears to be an inevitable liquidity crunch.”
“Nobody likes to turn the power off — it’s inconvenient — but any utility that has significant wildfire risk, especially wind-driven wildfire risk, needs to do it and needs to have a plan in place,” Michael Wara, a wildfire expert who is director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford University,in the region had also left plants, including invasive grasses, dangerously dry.
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