HONOLULU — Crews gradually restored electrical service across parts of Oahu on Saturday after a power failure blacked out the island’s population of about 900,000 and thousands of visitors, including President-elect Barack Obama.
Residents had been urged to stay home after the lights went out during a thunderstorm Friday night. Hawaiian Electric Co. was investigating the cause.
Service had been restored to about 180,000 of the utility’s 295,000 customers by 8:30 a.m. Saturday, power company officials said.
It was the first time all of Oahu had lost power since Oct. 15, 2006, when a 6.7-magnitude earthquake shook the Hawaiian Islands and knocked out power on Oahu and parts of other islands for up to two days.
Hawaiian Electric spokesman Peter Rosegg said the initial power outage hit at 6:45 p.m., affecting most of the island. The rest of Oahu lost power two hours later when the last generator failed. The Associated Press
