MEDIA RELEASE

Hawai‘i Electric Light has restored electric service to the remaining 20 customers in Paauilo-Mauka who were affected by high winds from Tropical Storm Madeline.

Crews have been working since Wednesday to repair damage to utility poles and power lines caused primarily by fallen trees and branches.

After the storm, several customers reported receiving fraudulent calls concerning their utility bills. Hawai‘i Electric Light cautions customers to be aware of potential scams. The company will not contact customers to request personal information or direct customers to submit payments via options other than those listed on the back of the billing statement. For your safety and protection:

• ï‚· Never provide personal, confidential or financial information to an unidentified individual.
• ï‚· Ask questions or ask for proper identification. Request the individual’s name, company name, and phone number.
• Be cautious when responding to callers from an unidentified phone number. Phone scammers want to remain anonymous.
• Be aware that today’s technology can be used to mask the caller’s phone number and the caller ID could indicate the call is originating from Hawai‘i Electric Light, even though it is not.
• Call Hawai‘i Electric Light customer service at (808) 969-6999 or (808) 329-3584 to confirm a demand for payment.
• Report any suspicious activity to local police.

“We want to thank the community for their kind words of support and patience as our employees worked tirelessly to restore power to our customers who were impacted by Tropical Storm Madeline,” said Rhea Lee-Moku, public information officer.

Any customer still experiencing an outage or seeing a low-hanging or downed power line may report it by calling 969-6666. Hawai‘i Electric Light proactively posts outage notifications, including power restoration updates, on its Twitter account @HIElectricLight with the hashtag #BigIslandOutage.