www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/24/hawaii-fires-lawsuit-maui-county-sues-hawaiian-electric
Other lawsuits against Power Plants have been successful. The power plants have been negligent in maintenance of their power lines and have caused severe loss of property and lives by their malfeasance.
Other utilities have installed power safety shut offs during high wind events.
#Doing nothing is unacceptable. Climate extremes are forcing us to adapt and change. Billions are being lost by inaction and 1000’s of lives. Technology can be changed to support life.
The utility knew that high winds “would topple power poles, knock down power lines, and ignite vegetation”, the lawsuit said. “Defendants also knew that if their overhead electrical equipment ignited a fire, it would spread at a critically rapid rate.”
The lawsuit notes that other utilities, such as Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas and Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric, have all implemented public safety power shutoffs during during high-wind events and said the “severe and catastrophic losses … could have easily been prevented” if Hawaiian Electric had a similar shutoff plan.
The county said it is seeking compensation for damage to public property and resources in Lahaina as well as nearby Kula.
Other utilities have been found liable for devastating fires recently.
In June, a jury in Oregon found the electric utility PacifiCorp responsible for causing devastating fires during Labor Day weekend in 2020, ordering the company to pay tens of millions of dollars to 17 homeowners who sued and finding it liable for broader damages that could push the total award into the billions.
Pacific Gas and Electric declared bankruptcy and pleaded guilty to 84 counts of manslaughter after its neglected equipment caused a fire in the Sierra Nevada foothills in 2018 that destroyed nearly 19,000 homes, businesses and other buildings and virtually razed the town of Paradise, California.
Hawaii fires
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