Maui Fire Lays Bare Utility Missteps Mirrored Across the Country

When flames ripped through the drought-parched town of Paradise in 2018, destroying homes and killing 85 in California’s deadliest-ever wildfire, it was a wake-up call to power companies across the country. Electric lines would ultimately be blamed for the blaze, and the state’s largest utility was driven into bankruptcy.

It’s clear that officials at Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. were taking note. Almost exactly 12 months later, the company publicly vowed to fly drones to identify areas vulnerable to fire.

Hawaiian Electric teams work in burned out residential areas following the August wildfires on Maui.

Photographer: Yuki Iwamura/AFP/Getty Images

But then it took the utility roughly another three years — until the summer of 2022 — before it would ...