KIUC Applies for Recovery of its Wildfire Mitigation Costs

Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) submitted an application today with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to establish a Wildfire Cost Recovery Mechanism (WCRM) to recover the cooperative’s costs to implement its 2025-2027 Wildfire Mitigation Plan (WMP). 

This application follows the PUC’s May 21, 2026 approval of KIUC’s WMP in Decision and Order No. 42567, and was submitted in accordance with Hawaii law that allows KIUC as an electric cooperative to recover its approved wildfire mitigation, repair, and restoration costs through an automatic rate adjustment clause or other tariff recovery mechanism established by the PUC.  

“Protecting our members, communities, and island resources from wildfire risk is one of KIUC’s highest priorities. The projects included in our WMP are designed to reduce the likelihood of utility-related ignitions, strengthen the reliability of our electric system, and help safeguard our communities now and in the future,” said KIUC’s President and Chief Executive Officer, David Bissell. 

KIUC’s WMP was prepared in response to the tragic Maui wildfires in August 2023 and identifies various efforts to enhance KIUC’s wildfire prevention and response efforts. These include:

• Increased vegetation management efforts by expanding vegetation clearances from KIUC’s power lines and hiring additional tree trimmers
• The use of advanced pole testing technology and drone inspections to improve the ability to detect needed pole replacements and repairs, through which over 1,000 poles have been identified and changed out since 2025 as a result of these inspections 
• Installing Tempest weather stations throughout the island near KIUC’s core facilities and operations to better detect weather patterns that could lead to wildfire risks
• Removing all bare wire lines on KIUC’s system
• The use of infrared thermography to inspect substation equipment
• The use of cameras and other technologies to further enhance situational awareness
• An upcoming island-wide replacement of KIUC’s approximately 7,500 fuses and 5,600 arresters with fire-safe fuses and arresters 

The costs incurred for these various efforts currently total more than $18 million and are expected to reach $55 million by the end of 2027. As part of its filing today, KIUC is seeking to establish an initial surcharge to recover about $9.4 million in operations and maintenance (O&M), capital costs and compliance efforts for its wildfire mitigation efforts. If approved, and based on current sale projections, the impact to the average residential bill (using 500 kilowatt-hours per month) is estimated to be $12.87 per month and would begin to be reflected in customer bills starting in April 2027. The cost recovery amounts will change in future years as WMP efforts continue to advance and evolve. KIUC is currently working on its next WMP covering 2027-2028, which is currently required by the PUC to be submitted for their review in December 2026.

“While no one welcomes additional costs, wildfire management is now a core focus of KIUC and investments are necessary to address the growing wildfire threat facing Hawai‘i and to ensure KIUC can continue implementing these critical safety measures,” said Bissell. He further noted that a recent federal grant award of $2.4 million dollars will help to defray a portion of the fire-safe fuse and arrester replacement project. KIUC is also seeking additional federal funding for wildfire mitigation work. 

Bissell also noted that the WCRM is designed to have a reconciliation mechanism towards actual costs.  Under the proposed WCRM, KIUC will file an annual reconciliation with the PUC of the total WCRM surcharge revenue that was collected for the previous calendar year, compared to the WCRM surcharge revenue required based on actual costs and sales levels. Any difference in the total collected versus the total required for the previous year under the proposed WCRM will be applied to customer accounts as an additional credit or surcharge from April 1 to December 31 of the year the annual filing is made. 

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