"I was shocked, overwhelmed and confused, but still remained hopeful that there is some solution to this," Desha-Ann Kealoha told KHON2. "My husband has a colorful vocabulary -- he was upset."
She added that prior to receiving the letter her neighbors had called HECO to repair a streetlight when it went out and the company told them they couldn't repair it because it was a private road.
Since June 2020, HECO has been reviewing streetlight accounts for streets located on Oahu and found "several of these accounts did not have an existing customer," the letter to the couple, dated Jan. 27, said.
The electric company said in the letter it believed that the street, Halemaluhia Place, which the couple lives on, was dedicated to the city and county of Honolulu, but in November 2020 correspondence, the city denied the street was dedicated to the city.
HECO added that upon further investigation, it "recently learned" that they own the street.
"Because you own the street upon which the streetlights are located, Hawaii Electric believes that you are responsible for the payment of electric energy supplied to these streetlights," the letter said.
Desha-Ann told KHON2 that her and her husband signed mortgage documents which did not say that they were purchasing the whole street, and she reached out to her realtor, who has reached out to the escrow office.
"We're working with all parties and have spoken with the Kealohas," HECO spokesperson Shannon Tangonan said in a statement to KHON2. "We want to assure them that we don't expect them to pay the outstanding bill. Our goal is to determine who owns the street where the streetlights are located so that the bill can be paid going forward."
"That is definitely a common goal that I hope can be resolved as well!" Desha-Ann responded. "Failure for the developers to complete the dedication process should not be my issue. Not sure who dropped the ball here, but it's out of my control."
