Electricity has been restored to thousands across Oahu who spent much of the weekend in the dark, Hawaiian Electric Company spokesman Peter Rosegg told Civil Beat.
“There are still some pockets of areas, a single house or cluster of homes, that need work,” Rosegg said. “But the big blocks of neighborhoods have been taken care of.”
Rosegg said the fix came around 3:30 a.m. on Sunday. Before that, there were still 1,700 customers without power since heavy rain pounded Oahu Thursday night. The outages came amid a contract battle between HECO and the local chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, who have worked without a contract since October and went on strike Friday.
Parties are set to return to the bargaining table this morning.
“We’re happy to go back to bargaining,” Rosegg told Civil Beat. “But what happens at the bargaining table is what matters. I really can’t say anything more than that.”
GET IN-DEPTH
REPORTING ON HAWAII鈥橲 BIGGEST ISSUES
We need your help.
Unfortunately, being named a聽finalist for a聽Pulitzer prize聽doesn’t make us immune to financial pressures. The fact is,聽our revenue hasn鈥檛 kept pace with our need to grow,听.
Civil Beat is a nonprofit, reader-supported newsroom based in 贬补飞补颈驶颈. We鈥檙e looking to build a more resilient, diverse and deeply impactful media landscape, and聽we hope you鈥檒l help by .