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

Posted on Oct 2, 2026 in Main, Newsroom

STATE OF HAWAIʻI

KA MOKU ʻĀINA O HAWAIʻI

JOSH GREEN, M.D.

GOVERNOR

KE KIAʻĀINA

DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES

KA ʻOIHANA MĀLAMA LAWELAWE KANAKA

JOSEPH CAMPOS II

DIRECTOR

KA LUNA HOʻOKELE

TRISTA SPEER

DEPUTY DIRECTOR

KA HOPE LUNA HOʻOKELE

LORI-LEI APONTE

DEPUTY DIRECTOR

KA HOPE LUNA HOʻOKELE

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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