UPDATE: 10:50 p.m.

Hawaiian Electric Co. officials said late Monday that they have canceled any additional rolling blackouts for the rest of the night.

HECO crews continue to work on restoring power to customers affected by the rolling blackouts and other outages across Oahu, according to a company news release.

“We sincerely apologize for the disruption to our customers. We thank them for their patience and appreciate their efforts to help conserve electricity,” said Darren Pai, Hawaiian Electric spokesperson.

Hawaiian Electric warned Oahu customers earlier Monday about the possibility of rolling blackouts and urged them to conserve energy after two large generating units at Waiau Power Plant went offline in the afternoon.

In addition, heavy cloud cover and rainy conditions across the island reduced production from solar energy systems and battery energy storage systems could not charge to full capacity, HECO said in a news release.

9 p.m.

Hawaiian Electric issued an updated schedule of rolling blackouts for 30-minute periods across Oahu tonight because of a shortage of reserve generation capacity,

The updated schedule is:

>> 8:30-9 p.m. : Waiawa, Crestview, Mililani, Waipio, Kunia, Waimalu, Upper Kipapa areas, Pearl City, majority of Leeward Area, Keolu, Pohakupu, Kailua areas with sections of Waimanalo and Kahala areas, Kalihi, Kakaako

>> 9-9:30 p.m.: Sections of Kaimuki, Kapahulu, sections of Kapiolani Blvd and Waikiki. University of Hawaii and Manoa areas

>> 9:30-10 p.m.: Nuuanu and School St. areas, Hawaii Kai and sections of Waimanalo, Waipahu, sections of Pearl City, Kunia and Ewa Beach

>> 10-10:30 p.m. Waiawa, Crestview, Mililani, Waipio, Kunia, Waimalu, Upper Kipapa areas, Pearl City and Waimalu areas

>> 10:30-11 p.m. Majority of Leeward area

The company said in a news release, “Due to insufficient generation, earlier this evening Hawaiian Electric began ‘load shedding,’ a process of systematically disconnecting customers in various areas around the island, as part of a predetermined sequence under the company’s emergency procedures. The targeted emergency outages are necessary to avoid a more widespread outage or damage to the electric system from an imbalance of too much demand versus too little available generation.”

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

Hawaiian Electric Co. is urging customers to reduce the use of electricity as rolling outages are possible tonight on Oahu.

HECO said in a statement late this afternoon that it may be forced to turn off power for 30-minute periods across Oahu beginning at 5:30 p.m. which was prompted by a shortage of “reserve generation capacity” after two power-generating units went offline.

The schedule is listed below:

>> 5:30 to 6 p.m. Pearl City – Waimalu

>> 6 to 6:30 p.m. Majority of Leeward Oahu

>> 6:30 to 7 p.m. Kalihi, Keolu, Kohakapu, Kailua, Waimanalo to Kahala

>> 7 to 7:30 p.m. Kakaako, Kaimuki, Kahala, Kapahulu and Waikiki

>> 7:30 to 8 p.m. Nuuanu and School Street area

>> 8 to 8:30 p.m. Hawaii Kai and Waimanalo

“Two large generating units at Waiau Power Plant went offline this afternoon and while assessments and repairs are underway, it is not expected the units will be back online by tonight,” HECO said in a statement. “In addition, due to heavy cloud cover and rainy conditions across the island, production from solar energy systems has been reduced and battery energy storage systems could not charge to full capacity.”

HECO has asked residents and businesses to help by conserving power during the peak electricity use time of 5 to 9 p.m., and postpone heavy usage such as washing clothes, using dryers, running dishwaters and air conditioning. Large commercial customers have also been asked to conserve.

According to HECO, if there is insufficient power to meet demand then “load shedding” or systemically disconnecting customers will begin in different areas across the island. HECO said the targeted emergency outages are needed to avoid widespread outages or damage to the electric system due to an imbalance of power to meet the demand.

“We apologize for the need to take the extraordinary step of initiating outages and we appreciate the patience of everyone who is affected,” said Jim Kelly, vice president of government, community relations and corporate communications for Hawaiian Electric, in a statement. “Faced with a potential generation shortfall, we want to give customers a heads up so they can plan around these brief outages and help conserve power at a critical time. On an island, we’re on our own and there’s no one to call on when our reserve generation runs short.”