Latest news with #HawaiianElectric
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hawaiian Electric Industries to Announce Second Quarter 2025 Results August 7
HONOLULU, July 14, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (HEI) (NYSE - HE) will announce its second quarter 2025 financial results on Thursday, August 7 and conduct a webcast and conference call to discuss the results at 10:30 a.m. Hawaii time (4:30 p.m. Eastern time). To listen to the conference call, dial 1-888-660-6377 (U.S.) or 1-929-203-0797 (international) and enter passcode 2393042. Parties may also access presentation materials and/or listen to the conference call by visiting the conference call link on HEI's website at under "Investor Relations," sub-heading "News and Events – Events and Presentations." A replay will be available online and via phone. The online replay will be available on HEI's website about two hours after the event. An audio replay will also be available about two hours after the event through August 14. To access the audio replay, dial 1-800-770-2030 (U.S.) or 1-647-362-9199 (international) and enter passcode 2393042. HEI and Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. (Hawaiian Electric) intend to continue to use HEI's website, as a means of disclosing additional information; such disclosures will be included in the Investor Relations section of the website. Accordingly, investors should routinely monitor the Investor Relations section of HEI's website, in addition to following HEI's and Hawaiian Electric's press releases, HEI's and Hawaiian Electric's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings and HEI's public conference calls and webcasts. Investors may sign up to receive e-mail alerts via the Investor Relations section of the website. The information on HEI's website is not incorporated by reference into this document or into HEI's and Hawaiian Electric's SEC filings unless, and except to the extent, specifically incorporated by reference. Investors may also wish to refer to the Public Utilities Commission of the State of Hawaii (PUC) website at to review documents filed with, and issued by, the PUC. No information on the PUC website is incorporated by reference into this document or into HEI's and Hawaiian Electric's SEC filings. About HEI HEI provides the energy services that empower much of the economic and community activity of Hawaii. HEI's electric utility, Hawaiian Electric, supplies power to approximately 95% of Hawaii's population and is undertaking an ambitious effort to decarbonize its operations and the broader state economy, and modernize and harden the grid to ensure resilience and public safety. For more information, visit View source version on Contacts Mateo GarciaDirector, Investor RelationsPhone: (808) 543-7300E-mail: ir@
Business Wire
14-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Hawaiian Electric Industries to Announce Second Quarter 2025 Results August 7
HONOLULU--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (HEI) (NYSE - HE) will announce its second quarter 2025 financial results on Thursday, August 7 and conduct a webcast and conference call to discuss the results at 10:30 a.m. Hawaii time (4:30 p.m. Eastern time). To listen to the conference call, dial 1-888-660-6377 (U.S.) or 1-929-203-0797 (international) and enter passcode 2393042. Parties may also access presentation materials and/or listen to the conference call by visiting the conference call link on HEI's website at under 'Investor Relations,' sub-heading 'News and Events – Events and Presentations.' A replay will be available online and via phone. The online replay will be available on HEI's website about two hours after the event. An audio replay will also be available about two hours after the event through August 14. To access the audio replay, dial 1-800-770-2030 (U.S.) or 1-647-362-9199 (international) and enter passcode 2393042. HEI and Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. (Hawaiian Electric) intend to continue to use HEI's website, as a means of disclosing additional information; such disclosures will be included in the Investor Relations section of the website. Accordingly, investors should routinely monitor the Investor Relations section of HEI's website, in addition to following HEI's and Hawaiian Electric's press releases, HEI's and Hawaiian Electric's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings and HEI's public conference calls and webcasts. Investors may sign up to receive e-mail alerts via the Investor Relations section of the website. The information on HEI's website is not incorporated by reference into this document or into HEI's and Hawaiian Electric's SEC filings unless, and except to the extent, specifically incorporated by reference. Investors may also wish to refer to the Public Utilities Commission of the State of Hawaii (PUC) website at to review documents filed with, and issued by, the PUC. No information on the PUC website is incorporated by reference into this document or into HEI's and Hawaiian Electric's SEC filings. About HEI HEI provides the energy services that empower much of the economic and community activity of Hawaii. HEI's electric utility, Hawaiian Electric, supplies power to approximately 95% of Hawaii's population and is undertaking an ambitious effort to decarbonize its operations and the broader state economy, and modernize and harden the grid to ensure resilience and public safety. For more information, visit
Associated Press
08-07-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Is HECO's monopoly over? New law could change power market
Hawaiian Electric Co.'s century-long hold on Hawaiʻi's electricity market soon will change in a major way, creating a potential path to lower rates for businesses and residents. Starting in 2027, HECO will be required to let independent electricity producers use its grid to deliver electricity directly to customers for a fee, potentially ending the utility's standing as the sole choice for most electric consumers in the state. Under the current system, producers must sell electricity at a wholesale price to HECO, which pools it to sell to customers at a higher rate. Gov. Josh Green signed the groundbreaking bill on Thursday, despite having previously signaled his intent to veto the measure. It remains to be seen to what extent the new system will lead to significant savings for residential customers. A previously passed law allowing renters to buy power from community solar farms, for instance , has gone nowhere, hampered by what critics say are untenable rules. But even critics of the new law have said it could generate savings for some customers. State Sen. Glenn Wakai, who chairs the Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee and sponsored the bill, said the measure was meant to introduce competition in Hawaiʻi's electricity market and reduce costs in a state where customers pay the nation's highest costs for electricity — more than three times the national average. 'We have for more than 100 years been at the mercy of HECO for our electricity needs, and we've seen in recent times that the delivery of that electricity has been very unreliable and very, very expensive,' Wakai said. 'In the next two years, come 2027, all HECO's customers will have an option of buying from someone other than HECO.' 'I think this is a game changer to benefit the consumers,' Wakai said. Green's office also expressed optimism. 'We believe that the provisions contained within the bill will allow for greater energy choice and hopefully a reduction in costs for Hawai'i's consumers,' Green's spokeswoman, Makana McClellan, said in a written statement. HECO spokesman Jim Kelly declined an interview request. Law Could 'Really Open Up Our Grid' The law includes several provisions to break HECO's hold on Hawaiʻi's electricity market, but the most important involves what energy experts call wheeling. Under the current system, developers build big wind and solar farms and sell the power to HECO under long-term contracts. HECO pays as little as 8 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity from these independent power producers, said Jeff Mikulina, a renewable energy consultant who was an architect of the law requiring Hawaiʻi to produce all of the electricity sold in the state from renewable resources by 2045. Meanwhile, HECO charges residential customers on Oʻahu almost 43 cents per kilowatt hour. Big Island residents pay 48 cents. Wakai said a goal of the law is to enable customers to pay closer to what the renewable electricity costs HECO to buy and to encourage smaller players to get in the game. The wheeling provision does this by letting independent electricity producers pay a set fee to use HECO's grid to deliver power to customers. Although wheeling has long been allowed on the mainland, it's been prohibited by law in Hawaiʻi. The PUC had been investigating a proposal to allow wheeling between government entities only, and Green's intent-to-veto statement pointed to that as a reason to veto the broader bill. Green decided to sign the broad bill after the PUC said it would cancel the intra-governmental wheeling inquiry, McClellan said. Hawaiʻi's previous prohibition against wheeling has played out on the ground at places like Green Homes Hanalei, a cluster of seven homes in west Oʻahu built in 2017 around the idea of using solar and storage to make the subdivision as energy self-sufficient as possible. Developer R.J. Martin powered each home with photovoltaic solar cells combined with two Tesla Powerwall batteries. Each home had garages with chargers for electric vehicles. Martin wanted to go further and link the homes with a small power grid that would let homeowners share surplus power with each other. But he quickly learned that would be illegal. Homeowners would have to become regulated utilities to share surplus electricity with their neighbors. 'No one in their right mind is going to go through that exercise,' Wakai said. 'So now, it just simplifies what has been all these walls and impediments put up by the government as well as by HECO.' Martin hopes the new law will enable him to do something more innovative in the near future: use renewables and perhaps a microgrid to power a larger, workforce housing subdivision he's planning for West Oʻahu. But much will depend on how the Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission implements the law, Mikulina said. 'If the PUC does it right, it can really open up our grid to some innovative renewable solutions,' Mikulina said. 'This could catalyze renewable growth and really help folks who need access to this.' Critics Say Some Could Be Left Out Critics point to potential unintended consequences. A major issue involves equity. The concern is that HECO customers with the money and wherewithal to partner with an independent power producer will defect from HECO, leaving those less well-off to still deal with higher rates. Testifying against the bill, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1260, which works on utility infrastructure, argued the long-term technical effects of wheeling on HECO's grid are unknown. 'Further,' the union wrote, 'the fixed-cost of operating and maintaining the system will remain unchanged and passed on to those left in the system, essentially increasing the cost of electricity to those who can least afford it.' Given this risk, it will be key to make sure lower-income residential customers can benefit as the commission creates rules governing the program, said Michael Colón, director of energy for the Ulupono Initiative, which supports the use of renewable energy. To address such concerns, Wakai said, the law limits the size of a wind or solar farm allowed to use the wheeling provision to two megawatts, the size needed to power about 3,000 homes. 'We're not talking about, you know, large 50- to 60-megawatt plants going and selling to all the Waikīkī hotels,' Wakai said. 'That's not going to be possible under this scenario.' 'What is possible under this scenario,' he said, 'is, if you have let's say 10 acres of land that can create two megawatts of power, you are free to go and sell to the nearby residents or wheel it across the island to someone who's willing to take it.' That's promising news to people like Steve Mazur, director of commercial business development for RevoluSun, one of Hawaiʻi's largest solar companies. Mazur said he's encountered business owners with energy hogging cold storage systems but small rooftops located near businesses with huge rooftops but little electricity needs. If implemented well by the PUC, Mazur said, the new law could make way for solar panels on the large roof to power the neighboring business. 'These rooftops are sitting there empty,' he said. 'There has to be something to entice them.' ___ This story was originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hawaiian Electric under fire for service issues and high costs
HONOLULU (KHON2) — State lawmakers grilled Hawaiian Electric and the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on Monday over rising electricity costs and what they called unreliable service, during a hearing examining the state's performance-based regulation system. Deadly force 'justified' in 2023 Pearl City unattended police rifle case The system, known as PBR, was implemented in 2021 to encourage utilities to improve performance while controlling costs. But lawmakers expressed concern that the policy has yet to deliver meaningful benefits to consumers. About 80,000 Hawaii residents are considered 'energy burdened,' meaning they spend a disproportionate share of their income on electricity, according to lawmakers. Nearly 13,000 customers were disconnected in 2023 for nonpayment. 'Undoubtedly the rates are going to go up and we're getting poor service,' said Sen. Glenn Wakai, (D), the Senate Majority Floor Leader. 'How are you going to reconcile this for the public?'PUC Chairman Leo Asuncion responded that the commission has opened a docket specifically to review the disconnection process used by Hawaiian Electric and Kauai Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC). Hawaiian Electric Vice President Jim Kelly testified that the utility posted a $1.2 billion loss last year. 'That was our profit—$1.2 billion loss,' he said. 'I just wanted to have that correct for the record.' Wakai pointed out that part of the loss was related to wildfires, which Kelly confirmed. 'We're talking about rates—where the public is paying for power, and it's always disrupted—and it's three times the national average,' Wakai added. During the hearing, lawmakers also revealed the existence of a whistleblower complaint alleging internal staff and morale issues at the PUC, which they said could be hampering the commission's ability to effectively regulate key industries. Asuncion denied the allegations raised in the complaint. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news The hearing marked the latest in a series of state-level efforts to scrutinize Hawaii's energy policies amid mounting public frustration over costs and service reliability. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hawaiian Electric seeks approval for wildfire safety work
Typical residential customers of the state's largest utility could see their monthly bill rise between $1 and $5.50 to cover costs of an expanded three-year wildfire safety plan. Hawaiian Electric disclosed the cost estimates in a plan update filed with the state Public Utilities Commission on Friday. The safety plan for work through 2027 is subject to PUC approval, and the utility anticipates that bills won't likely increase for plan work until 2026. Ratepayer cost estimates vary by island where the cost and scope of planned improvements are different and add up to $350 million for Maui County, Oahu and Hawaii island. Kauai has an electric utility owned by ratepayers. The biggest Hawaiian Electric investments in wildfire safety are slated for Maui, where a wind-driven inferno determined to have originated from a downed company power line killed 102 people and destroyed most of Lahaina on Aug. 8, 2023. Hawaiian Electric said it plans to spend $181 million on wildfire safety work throughout Maui County, but mainly on Maui where the state's wildfire risk is highest. This work, the company said, should cost a typical residential customer $5.41 more per month. Work on Maui is to initially include putting underground about two miles of overhead power lines in critical safety areas in Lahaina determined with the help of a community working group providing area-specific knowledge and input. Hawaiian Electric said this initial work in Lahaina will be a pilot project that informs planning for future undergrounding of power lines in the West Maui town and other areas. On Oahu, safety plan work is expected to cost $68 million and result in a typical residential customer's monthly bill rising by $1.05. Work on Hawaii island is expected to cost $101 million and have a $2.86 monthly bill impact. A typical residential customer uses 500 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month. Not all of the cost for wildfire safety work under the plan will be borne by ratepayers. Hawaiian Electric said some of the expense is being covered by existing programs, including a $95 million federal grant for grid resilience received in 2024. Hawaiian Electric in a news release noted that bill impacts from the planned work may be reduced if the company can use a financing strategy that the Legislature approved in a bill passed April 30. Senate Bill 897 authorizes the PUC to let the company issue long-term bonds that finance safety infrastructure work and are repaid through customer billing. This form of financing, known as securitization, is less costly for Hawaiian Electric than other forms of available debt. Gov. Josh Green has yet to act on SB 897. His office in written testimony raised some concerns about various drafts of the bill that were different than what lawmakers passed. 'The Companies will take advantage of that option if /when it becomes available, ' Hawaiian Electric said in the filing, referring to its subsidiaries on different islands. Hawaiian Electric said about two-thirds of wildfire safety work will be capital investments in upgraded physical infrastructure, with the other third to be spent on operations and maintenance that includes enhanced equipment inspections and removal or trimming of thousands of hazardous trees. Other specific work to be done under the plan include :—Insulating wire power lines in highest risk areas to prevent sparking if a line touches another line or falls to the ground.—Replacing and strengthening poles.—Installing more weather stations and hazard-detection cameras.—Expanding AI-assisted video camera stations to enable 100 % coverage of all high and medium wildfire risk areas.—Creating a wildfire watch office that includes a meteorologist to monitor media reports, internal and external weather information and field reports to provide more situational awareness for operations.—Using a wildfire risk model to inform real-time decision-making and to refine the company's Public Safety Power Shutoff program so that shutoffs, if necessary, can be more precise and shorter. 'The (plan ) is designed to provide public safety, wildfire risk mitigation, reliability and resilience benefits for the Companies' customers and the State as a whole, ' Hawaiian Electric said in the filing. The plan filed with regulators Friday updates a less-detailed 'blueprint ' filed with the PUC in January that had a $450 million estimated cost and scope of work that Hawaiian Electric then said could change with refinements. Hawaiian Electric created its first wildfire mitigation plan in 2019, which did not include a power safety shutoff program. The plan was updated in the months after the Maui wildfire disaster, and many upgrades and operational changes have been implemented since then, including the shutoff program begun in July. The wildfire that struck Lahaina caused an estimated $5.5 billion in property damage. A $4 billion settlement of fire victim litigation is to be mostly paid for by the utility, the state and landowner Kamehameha Schools. Hawaiian Electric's share of the settlement is $2 billion. It is to be paid over four years and not add to customer bills. The parent of the utility, Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc., raised capital for the first payment by selling new shares of stock. Additional payment funding is expected to be raised through issuing debt and equity in HEI. BY THE NUMBERS Hawaiian Electric 2025-2027 wildfire safety plan estimated costs :—Total : $350 million—Maui County : $181 million—Hawaii island : $101 million—Oahu : $68 million Monthly bill impacts ----Maui County : $5.41—Hawaii island : $2.86—Oahu : $1.05 —Residential customer using 500 kilowatt-hours of electricity
