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The
county of Maui, Hawaii, last week sued Hawaiian Electric,
accusing the power company of acting negligently by failing to
shut down its equipment despite warnings that hurricane winds
could knock power lines down, sparking wildfires.
The county said downed power lines started the wildfires that
destroyed the historic town of Lahaina earlier this month,
killing at least 115 people and displacing hundreds more.
The company said a morning fire on Aug. 8 caused by power lines
that fell in high winds was subsequently reported "100%
contained" and later declared "extinguished" by the Maui County
Fire Department.
It said another afternoon fire started in the same area more
than six hours after all of its power lines in West Maui had
been de-energized, which could not be contained by the fire
department and spread out of control toward Lahaina.
"We were surprised and disappointed that the County of Maui
rushed to court even before completing its own investigation,"
said Shelee Kimura, president and CEO of Hawaiian Electric.
Hawaiian Electric shares rose 3% to $9.95 in premarket trading
on Monday.
The S&P Global Ratings on Thursday downgraded Hawaiian Electric
to 'B-' from 'BB-', citing the company's likely inconsistent
access to the capital markets in the aftermath of the wildfires.
Hawaiian Electric shares plunged on Friday to their lowest level
since 1984 as the lawsuit raised investor worries over the
financial health of the utility that has paused dividend
payouts.
(Reporting by Deep Vakil in Bengaluru, Editing by Louise Heavens
and Mark Potter)
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