Hawaiian Electric Core Profit Falls on Storm Costs

The Tip Desk · November 6, 2026 · 3 min read

Core net income was $23 million, or $0.13 a share, as August and September storms added $14 million of incremental pre-tax costs.

Hawaiian Electric Industries (HE) reported third-quarter 2026 GAAP net income of $35 million, or $0.20 a share, compared with $31 million, or $0.18 a share, a year earlier.

Core net income, which excludes Maui wildfire-related items, American Savings Bank impacts and Pacific Current strategic-review expenses, was $23 million, or $0.13 a share, versus $33 million, or $0.19 a share, in the third quarter of 2025.

GAAP and Core results included $14 million of estimated incremental pre-tax costs from storm activity in August and September. The utility said it will request recovery of storm costs once final incremental costs are known.

GAAP net income was $35 million, or $0.20 a share, versus $123 million, or $0.71 a share, in the second quarter, when results included a $101 million after-tax non-cash gain from remeasuring the remaining wildfire settlement liability to present value. Core net income was $23 million, or $0.13 a share, versus $22 million, or $0.13 a share, in that prior quarter.

Hawaiian Electric’s net income was $13 million versus $37 million a year earlier. Core net income at the utility was $28 million versus $40 million.

The company said the decline was driven primarily by $20 million of higher operations and maintenance expense, including the $14 million of storm costs and about $6 million of expenses transferred from the holding company after integration, plus $23 million of higher interest expense that included $18 million of non-cash accretion as the recorded value of the wildfire settlement liability rises with scheduled payment dates. Those items were partly offset by $8 million of higher revenues, net of fuel and purchased power, primarily from the annual revenue adjustment mechanism, and $3 million of higher allowance for funds used during construction.

Holding and other companies swung to $22 million of net income from a $6 million net loss a year earlier. The holding company’s result primarily reflected an $18 million pre-tax gain on sale of American Savings Bank shares and $46 million of unrealized gains on remaining ASB shares. HEI sold 35% of its 9.9% stake in ASB’s initial public offering, leaving a remaining stake of about 6.4% of ASB shares outstanding. Benefits from the ASB stake were partly offset by a $51 million pre-tax asset impairment at Pacific Current related to exiting the Mahipapa biomass plant on Kauai. The company said it is in the final stages of its strategic exit from Pacific Current. Core net loss at the holding and other companies was $5 million versus $7 million a year earlier.

Total revenues were $1.009 billion versus $790.6 million a year earlier. Electric utility revenues were $1.007 billion versus $787.4 million. Kilowatthour sales were 2,257 million versus 2,234 million. Average fuel oil cost was $154.87 a barrel versus $98.20 a barrel a year earlier.

Chief Executive Scott Seu said resilience investments under the Wildfire Mitigation Plan proved beneficial during the severe weather in August and September, which caused damage statewide, and that crews restored power quickly and safely.

The company said $80 million of the second wildfire settlement payment had been prepaid to date, reducing the $479 million amount due by $82 million after an early-payment discount. It said it will continue to evaluate early payments of the wildfire settlement liability.

A pending rate rebasing request proposes a 5.3% base rate increase, phased in over two years. HEI also said it recently sought approval for up to $500 million in wildfire safety and resilience investments through a structure passed by the state legislature.