HONOLULU (KHON2) -- Hawaiian Electric said they may have to issue rolling blackouts in parts of Oahu starting at 10 p.m. due to insufficient capacity. According to HECO, the shortage of power, is due to the loss of one of their largest power plants. They are urging customers to conserve energy, but they are also asking them to be prepared.
Heather Lukela owns Slice by HB Baking. Their specialty is frozen desserts.
"This entire freezer is filled with ice cream pies," Lukela said opening the door and pulling out one of the desserts.
Her shop, located in Kapahulu, is one of hundreds that could be impacted if Hawaiian Electric implements rolling blackouts, and she's concerned.
"No business wants to lose all of their product," Lukela said. "So yea, its a lot to take in."
She said they are hoping for the best but have a back up plan in place if the power does go out.
HECO is urging everyone to conserve electricity because they may not have enough capacity to fill the demand on Oahu.
"This is the result of, unfortunately, the largest independently owned power plant on the island unexpectedly went out of service during the middle of the night," Hawiian Electric Spokesperson Darren Pai explained.
According to HECO, it could take up to three days to fix the underground pipe that rupturedat the Kalaeloa Partners plant.
HECO said crews were able to get an additional power source online at Kahe Power Plant but they may still have to implement rolling outages, around the island.
"We're trying to keep it to around 30 minutes," Pai said." It may run a little bit longer, a little bit shorter. It might depend upon the exact, you know, amount of demand for electricity and amount of power that's that we have available at the time."
Chinatown, Downtown and Hawaii Kai will not be included in the rolling outages because HECO said they were recently impacted by very large outages.
Drivers should adhere to the rules of the road and treat any out of service traffic signals as all way stops.
The Board of Water Supply is asking people to conserve water from the Leeward Coast through Kahala and up to and including Mililani in an effort to allow the water company to limit its electricity demands.
Click here for more information about potential rolling blackouts.