It could be months before officials determine what caused last week’s Maui fire. But some plaintiff lawyers and investors have begun to blame Hawaiian Electric, the state’s largest utility.
Power lines and utility equipment were a potential source of the fire that killed more than 100 people — a death toll expected to rise once more than 1,000 people are missing.
Lawyers have filed at least four lawsuits against the company. The lawsuits allege the company was negligent in operating and maintaining its equipment. Among other things, the lawyers say the utility should have shut off the power to prevent its lines from starting fires during high winds and drought, a practice used in California.
Those lawsuits have spooked Wall Street traders who fear the utility won’t be able to answer liability claims that could add up to billions of dollars. Hawaiian Electric’s stock price has fallen about 68 percent since Aug. 7, the day before the wildfire started, to about $12 on Thursday.
Attention turned to the utility soon after the fires, in part because of videos and photos posted online by people in Maui that appeared to show power lines starting fires. In addition, data from Whisker Labs, a private company that monitors the electrical grid across the country looking for problems that could cause fires in homes, appears to have identified serious faults with power lines in the area. where the fire started.
Hawaiian Electric declined to comment in detail about the fires. But the company’s chief executive, Shelee Kimura, said at a news conference Monday that the company does not have a program that can turn off power early to prevent wildfires. He said such a program would require coordination with emergency workers. Power shut-offs will make it impossible for people to use medical equipment, water pumps and other essential equipment.
“In Lahaina, electricity powered the pumps that supplied the water – and so was also a critical need at the time,” Ms. Kimura.
Hawaiian Electric isn’t the first company to find itself in the spotlight after major wildfires. Aging utility equipment has often been blamed in recent years for igniting destructive fires when it comes into contact with dry vegetation, especially during high winds.
California’s largest electric utility, Pacific Gas and Electric, has been in a similar position several times. State officials have blamed one of its power lines for igniting the Camp Fire in 2018, which killed 85 people and destroyed the town of Paradise. Liability from the wildfires forced PG&E to seek bankruptcy protection; the company ultimately agreed to pay $13.5 billion to settle fire claims.
But there are some important differences between California and Hawaii. California law makes it easier to hold utilities liable for wildfires caused by their equipment even if they are not determined to have been negligent. In Hawaii, plaintiffs must prove that Hawaiian Electric was negligent to hold the utility company liable.
“Even with limited information so far, investors appear to be assuming the worst given the billions of dollars of fire exposure” facing other utility companies, analysts for Bank of America wrote in in a note to investors on Tuesday.
Hawaiian Electric is aware of the dangers posed by its equipment. In a filing with the state Public Utilities Commission last year, the company proposed upgrading the poles to withstand high winds and cut vegetation. The confrontation noted that Lahaina is a priority area. The company said it would take several years to complete the work.
In addition to utility decisions, officials will also focus on invasive weeds on Lahaina’s upper slopes. Introduced to Hawaii to feed livestock, weeds have taken over old sugar and pineapple plantations. Weeds tend to grow when it rains but become fuel for summer fires.
Hawaii’s attorney general, Anne Lopez, said her office will conduct a “comprehensive review of critical decision-making and policies leading up to, during and after the Maui wildfires.”
In a statement, Hawaiian Electric said it was “working with the state and county to determine what happened.”
Investigations into the origin of wildfires can take weeks to months, according to Lee Frelich, director of the Center for Forest Ecology at the University of Minnesota. It took California officials six months to realize that PG&E equipment was the cause of the Camp Fire.
Officials are trying to determine the start of the fire by evaluating video evidence and interviewing witnesses. Then, investigators look for clues that point to some common cause like lightning, downed power lines or campfires.
“That means gathering a bunch of different types of evidence,” Mr. Frelich said.
Such work can be difficult, he said, because many potential witnesses have been displaced or lost family members in the fire.
Susan C. Beachy contributed research and Peter Eavis contributed reporting.