The House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing Sept. 28 with Hawaii utility and energy officials as they look into the Maui wildfires that killed more than 100 people, the panel announced Thursday.
The committee said those testifying are expected to include:
Shelee Kimura, president of Hawaiian Electric
Leodoloff R. Asuncion, chair of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission
Mark Glick, chief energy officer of the Hawai’i State Energy Office
Backdrop: Three senior E&C GOP leaders — Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.), Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chair Morgan Griffith (Va.) and Energy Subcommittee Chair Jeff Duncan (S.C.) — began an investigation in late August following the devastating wildfires.
More than 115 people died in the early August disaster, which some have blamed on bare electrical wires and leaning poles. Hawaii’s electric utility has acknowledged its power lines were the cause, but faulted firefighters for backing away too soon before the blazes were contained.
