Sherry Menor-McNamara, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, said Wednesday the organization supports NextEra Energy Inc.’s purchase of Hawaiian Electric Industries.

“As the leading business advocacy organization in the state, we recognize that tough decisions need to be made, focusing on the long term and from the big-picture standpoint,” Menor-McNamara said. “We believe the merger will reduce our state’s reliance on oil through renewable energy efforts, upgrade the power infrastructure, and increase efficiency and use of technology to improve reliability and reduce costs for all consumers, both residential and business ratepayers.”

The chamber represents about 1,000 businesses employing more than 200,000 people . It joins more than 20 organizations, including trades and unions, in support of the merger.

The Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, Hawaii Korean Chamber of Commerce and Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii announced Monday they support NextEra’s proposed $4.3 billion buyout of HEI. The AFL-CIO, a union composed of 75 affiliated unions, councils and constituency groups that represent more than 100,000 workers in the state, announced its support for the sale last week.

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Star-Advertiser staff