Randall Hee, president and chief executive officer of Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative expressed his appreciation to everyone who was on Kaua‘i during the recent storms in a statement issued to the press. “The storm was one of the worst we
Randall Hee, president and chief executive officer of Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative expressed his appreciation to everyone who was on Kaua‘i during the recent storms in a statement issued to the press.
“The storm was one of the worst we have had in a few years and as a result we experienced a few problems that resulted in power outages,” Hee states in the release. “Some people were without power for a few days and as I write this our crews are still making repairs.”
Hee states that KIUC has managed to restore everyone with the exception of some areas in Koke`e and crews are working to restore those areas.
“I would like to thank members and customers who called in to report problems that they saw; the information was very helpful for us. We apologize if you received a busy signal trying to reach us but the call volume often exceeded our answering capability,” he said. “We appreciate your understanding and patience in your wait to have service restored. We also appreciate your understanding as some areas had multiple outages occur from trees and debris or multiple lighting strikes.”
He also expressed his appreciation for help KIUC received from Kaua‘i Police Department and their dispatchers, the Fire Department, Asplundh who responded to calls during the storm to help clear trees and TeleCable Systems which assisted with line repairs.
“I would especially like to thank KIUC employees for their dedication and commitment to providing service to our members and customers,” he states.
As the storm started, off duty shift supervisors started showing up at the power plant to help and shift personnel stayed back to help. “Our call center personnel worked longer hours to help gather trouble information and relayed that information to our repair crews,” he states.
Hee also sent special thanks to KIUC’s transmission and distribution construction and trouble shooting personnel and their supervisors, who stayed out in the nastiest weather to restore service.
“They worked for over 36 hours straight and were openly disappointed when forced off duty for a rest cycle. They continue to pull long hours making repairs,” Hee said.
All areas should be back in service by the time you read this, Hee states. “We would appreciate your calling our trouble call number at 246-8200 if you are still experiencing power problems.”
