DHS ANNOUNCES SNAP REPLACEMENT BENEFITS FOR MOLOKAʻI HOUSEHOLDS AFFECTED BY PLANNED POWER OUTAGES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 2, 2026

HONOLULU - The Hawaiʻi Department of Human Services (DHS) is announcing that Molokaʻi Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) households affected by planned outages may apply for replacement SNAP benefits for anticipated food spoilage.

Hawaiian Electric has announced that planned outages will occur from Oct. 3 through Oct. 8 as crews replace existing copper lines with aluminum conductors along East Kamehameha V Highway between Onioni Drive and Puʻu O Hōkū Ranch. These outages are required to safely complete ongoing grid-hardening work on Molokaʻi.

To support households who may experience food spoilage during these outages, DHS received approval from the USDA Food and Nutrition Administration (FNA) to authorize replacement SNAP benefits.

Under standard federal rules, households have 10 days to apply after the date of food loss. SNAP participants requesting replacement benefits must submit a signed statement including:

• Name of the SNAP participant
• Date of food loss
• Estimated value of food lost
• Brief description of what occurred
• Participant contact information

A sample statement is available on the DHS website, but applicants may submit their own written statement. Statements may be submitted to any DHS Processing Center statewide and a participant signature is required.

For more information, visit https://humanservices.hawaii.gov or call the Statewide Public Assistance Information Line at 1-855-643-1643.

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