Temporary wires hanging around

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

Overhead wires are criss-crossing more and more streets in O'ahu communities where utility lines are typically buried underground, particularly after the heavy winter rains of recent weeks.

Wailupe Circle resident Tom Judd looks at suspended power lines set up to bypass damaged lines underground. Fixing the underground problems has been slow going. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

"We're having a lot of problems with cables in East Honolulu," said Jose Dizon, Hawaiian Electric Co. spokesman. "In order to fix them, we have to find them. The cables are laid out on the dirt, not in conduits, so we can't just pull them."

And it's not a problem unique to East Honolulu. Communities built between 1966 and the mid-1980s around the state are experiencing this growth in overhead temporary power lines as problems with the buried lines emerge, Dizon said.

A 1966 city ordinance required developers to bury utility lines, but conduits weren't widely employed until the 1980s.

'Aina Haina, Kalama Valley, Haha'ione, Newtown, Makakilo, Mililani, Village Park, parts of Waipahu, Momilani and Waipi'o Acres are all areas where electrical cables were simply placed beneath the roadway or sidewalks and not put into protective conduits when they were first installed, Dizon said.

Now when there is a problem with an aging cable in those areas because of corrosion or breakage, HECO isn't able to simply pull the faulty wire and replace it with a new one.

To replace them, electric crews have to dig trenches and replace the lines with conduits and new wires, Dizon said. That requires a city permit and detailed plans, plus permission to go into residents' yards.

So now some of the temporary lines have been up for some time.

The Outdoor Circle, the group that works to ensure Hawai'i steers clear of visual blight, said the temporary lines were recently brought to their attention by a resident of Wailupe Peninsula who called to complain.

"We're very much in favor of underground utility lines," said Mary Steiner, Outdoor Circle chief executive officer. "We want to remove as much visual blight as possible, to preserve the natural vistas and to keep them uncluttered from the tangle of wires."

The Outdoor Circle of Honolulu has made the removal of overhead power lines one of its prime missions.

In Wailupe Peninsula, a bundle of temporary wires sticking up from the ground connecting to several homes caught fire two months ago, requiring the Fire Department to respond, said resident Irma Cunha.

"It looked like a 50,000 string of firecrackers that my family used to light at New Year's," Cunha said.

Electric company officials realized about the middle of last year that wire problems and replacement were going to affect more than just a couple of streets, Dizon said.

It has not been determined how much it might cost to place miles of cable in conduits underground, but it is a project on the company's radar screen, Dizon said.

At this time, Hawaiian Electric doesn't anticipate seeking a rate increase to pay for the work, Dizon said.

Meanwhile, the problems just keep occurring.

"It's happening all over Hawai'i Kai," Dizon said. "It will get worse as the neighborhood ages."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.