Red Cross’ Hawaii Chapter goes solar

Officials from the American Red Cross’ Hawaii Chapter say they expect to save $500,000 in electricity costs over the next 20 years with the installation of a solar energy system at the organization’s Diamond Head headquarters.

The Red Cross used corporate donations and federal stimulus funds to pay for the $309,000 photovoltaic system, which will generate an estimated 45 percent of the nonprofit’s energy needs.

Red Cross officials chose to own the photovoltaic system rather than install it under a power purchase agreement, a financing option that has become the choice of many nonprofits. Under a PPA a third party owns the photovoltaic system and sells the electricity back to the customer at a favorable rate. PPAs allow photovoltaic customers to enjoy the benefits of lower-cost energy without paying the upfront costs.

"Instead of locking in a lower rate for energy costs through a PPA, we wanted to completely own the system and eliminate as much of our power cost as possible," said Coralie Chun Matayoshi, CEO of the American Red Cross, Hawaii State Chapter. "Now we can use the money that would have paid for electricity, to go toward our mission of saving lives and giving hope to those in need."

The system was designed and installed by Honolulu-based RevoluSun.

Economy to pick up but is still vulnerable

WASHINGTON » The U.S. economy will grow faster in 2012 if it isn’t knocked off track by upheavals in Europe, according to an Associated Press survey of leading economists.

Unemployment will barely fall from the current 8.6 percent rate, though, by the time President Barack Obama runs for re-election in November, the economists say.

The three dozen private, corporate and academic economists expect the economy to grow 2.4 percent next year. In 2011 it likely grew less than 2 percent.

Housing prices declined in October

WASHINGTON » U.S. home prices fell in most major cities for the second straight month, further evidence that the housing recovery will be bumpy and weigh on the broader economy in 2012.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday showed prices dropped in October from September in 19 of the 20 cities tracked.

The decline reflects the typical fall slowdown after the peak buying season. Prices had risen modestly in April through August in at least half of the cities tracked.

U.S. says China is not manipulating yuan

WASHINGTON » The Obama administration on Tuesday declined to label China a currency manipulator after seeing recent increases in the value of the yuan compared with the dollar.

The decision angered unions and lawmakers that have accused Beijing of artificially holding down the value of its currency to gain trade advantages. A cheaper yuan makes Chinese goods less expensive when they are shipped to the United States. It also makes U.S. goods more expensive in China. Both could increase the U.S. trade deficit with China, which is on pace to hit a record high this year.

The Treasury Department said the yuan has appreciated 12 percent against the dollar in the past 18 months, after adjusting for inflation. In addition, the department said in a semiannual report that China promised at two high-level meetings last month to make the yuan’s exchange rate more flexible.

MetLife sells bank business to GE Capital

NORWALK, Conn. » MetLife plans to sell its U.S. retail deposit business to GE Capital as it moves away from being a bank holding company.

Financial terms were not disclosed. MetLife Inc., which offers insurance and employee benefit programs, said in July that it was exploring the sale of its banking operations to focus on its other business.

GE Capital’s banking business, GE Capital Financial, will acquire $7.5 billion in deposits. GE Capital says the deal fits its plans to launch a U.S. deposit platform.

About $3 billion in other deposits are not part of the deal, but will be transferred out of MetLife Bank in the next six months. It has not yet been determined where the $3 billion will be transferred, said MetLife spokesman John Calagna.

ON THE MOVE

Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties has announced that Michael A. Nelson has joined the firm’s Windward Oahu office as part of its new agent training office program. Currently, Nelson is president of Nelson and Co.

A vacationing President Barack Obama nominated a Harvard University professor and a former Treasury official under President George H.W. Bush — a Democrat and a Republican — to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

Obama praised Jeremy Stein and Jerome Powell for agreeing to serve his administration at a critical moment for the U.S. economy.

Stein is an economics professor at Harvard, where he teaches courses in finance. He was previously a senior adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Powell is a visiting scholar at the Washington-based Bipartisan Policy Center, where he has focused on federal and state fiscal issues. He was undersecretary of finance at the Treasury Department during the first Bush administration.