HEI sale costs eat into net income | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc., the parent company for the state’s largest electric utility, said Wednesday its net income in the first quarter was $31.9 million, or 31 cents per share, down 30 percent from the prior year due in part to costs related to its pending sale.

HEI said it spent $4.7 million in costs related to its sale to Florida-based NextEra Energy Inc. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the sale in March, and HEI shareholders will vote on the merger Tuesday. The state Public Utilities Commission must also approve the sale.

Excluding the pending merger costs, HEI earned $36.6 million, or 35 cents per share, compared with the year-earlier period when it made $45.8 million, or 45 cents per share.

Constance Lau, HEI president and chief executive officer, said the earnings met company expectations.

"First quarter earnings were in line with our expectations. Our utility continues to move ahead with its clean energy transformation and leads the nation with an estimated 12 percent of customers with rooftop solar systems and 21 percent of energy from renewable resources" Lau said. "Working collaboratively and innovatively with industry partners and other interested stakeholders, we can achieve a sustainable clean energy future for Hawaii."

HEI’s utility subsidiary, Hawaiian Electric Co., earned $26.9 million in the first quarter, down 24 percent from the prior year. The company said the decline was primarily due to higher operations and maintenance expenses.

The amount of renewable energy the utility installed in the first three months of 2015 was approximately 32 percent lower than the amount installed in the year-earlier period, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. HECO said the decline in installations was due to the company not approving additional systems in areas that already have a high number of rooftop solar units.

HECO said it added 12 megawatts of renewable energy generation for a total of 222 megawatts.

Maui Electric Co. and Hawaii Electric Light Co., HECO’s sister utilities, added 1 megawatt and 3 megawatts in the first quarter for a total of 52 megawatts and 49 megawatts installed, respectively.