Hawaii State Energy Office Completes O’ahu Energy System and Critical Infrastructure Vulnerability and Resiliency Assessment

Source: RL Martin

In October 2023, the Hawaii State Energy Office (HSEO) completed the O‘ahu Energy System and Critical Infrastructure Vulnerability and Resiliency Assessment. Funded by the Federal Energy Management Agency’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, the project enabled a comprehensive hazard and risk assessment of O'ahu’s critical energy infrastructure (CEI), including major supply, distribution, and demand networks, and identification of interdependencies with community lifelines, such as hospitals, first responders, water/wastewater, or shelters. The data collected was used to create a GIS tool to view the energy system on O‘ahu, visually depict community lifeline impacts of CEI node loss, and develop and prioritize mitigation actions and strategies that enhance energy resilience and reduce the energy vulnerability of Hawaii and O‘ahu residents and property. The results from the project will be used to harmonize and update other state plans, such as the Hawaii Hazard Mitigation Plan. The HSEO also utilized this project to facilitate an update to the Hawaii State Energy Security Plan (SESP) and address specific plan requirements to assess risks to energy infrastructure and cross-sector interdependencies. A second phase of the project has been proposed and selected for BRIC Set-Aside funding for the counties of Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii with hopes of a 2024 start.