UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D. C. 20549

FORM 10-K

 

[X] ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011

OR

[  ] TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF

THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

Commission
File Number

 

Registrant; State of Incorporation;
Address; and Telephone Number

 

I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.

1-8503

 

HAWAIIAN ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, INC., a Hawaii corporation
900 Richards Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Telephone (808) 543-5662

 

99-0208097

1-4955

 

HAWAIIAN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INC., a Hawaii corporation
900 Richards Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Telephone (808) 543-7771

 

99-0040500

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Registrant

 

Title of each class

 

Name of each exchange
on which registered

Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.

 

Common Stock, Without Par Value

 

New York Stock Exchange

Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc.

 

Guarantee with respect to 6.50% Cumulative Quarterly Income Preferred Securities Series 2004 (QUIPSSM) of HECO Capital Trust III

 

New York Stock Exchange

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

 

Registrant

 

Title of each class

Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.

 

None

Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc.

 

Cumulative Preferred Stock

 

 

 

 

Indicate by check mark if Registrant Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes  X  No    

 

Indicate by check mark if Registrant Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes     No  X

 

Indicate by check mark if Registrant Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes     No X

 

Indicate by check mark if Registrant Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes     No  X

 

Indicate by check mark whether Registrant Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes  X   No    

 

Indicate by check mark whether Registrant Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes  X   No    

 

Indicate by check mark whether Registrant Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).  Yes  X   No    

 

Indicate by check mark whether Registrant Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).  Yes  X   No    

 

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  [  ]

 



 

Indicate by check mark whether Registrant Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. Large accelerated filer X  Accelerated filer    Non-accelerated filer    (Do not check if a smaller reporting company) Smaller reporting company    

 

Indicate by check mark whether Registrant Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. Large accelerated filer     Accelerated filer    Non-accelerated filer X  (Do not check if a smaller reporting company) Smaller reporting company    

 

Indicate by check mark whether Registrant Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).     Yes    No  X

 

Indicate by check mark whether Registrant Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).     Yes    No  X

 

 

 

 

 

Aggregate market value
of the voting and non-
voting common equity
held by non-affiliates of
the registrants as of

 

Number of shares of common stock
outstanding of the registrants as of

 

 

 

June 30, 2011

 

June 30, 2011

 

February 8, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (HEI)

 

$2,306,231,095

 

95,853,329

 

96,152,702

 

 

 

 

 

(Without par value)

 

(Without par value)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. (HECO)

 

None

 

13,830,823
($6 2/3 par value)

 

14,233,723
($6 2/3 par value)

 

 

 

 

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

 

HECO’s Exhibit 99.2, consisting of:

 

HECO’s Consolidated Selected Financial Data—Part II

 

HECO’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Parts I and II

 

HECO’s Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk— Parts I and II

 

HECO’s Consolidated 2011 Financial Statements—Parts I, II, III and IV

 

Selected sections of Proxy Statement of HEI for the 2012 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be filed—Part III

 

 

This combined Form 10-K represents separate filings by Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. and Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. Information contained herein relating to any individual registrant is filed by each registrant on its own behalf. HECO makes no representations as to any information not relating to it or its subsidiaries.

 

 



 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

Page

 

 

 

Glossary of Terms

ii

Forward-Looking Statements

v

 

 

 

PART I

 

 

 

Item 1.

Business

1

Item 1A.

Risk Factors

26

Item 1B.

Unresolved Staff Comments

36

Item 2.

Properties

36

Item 3.

Legal Proceedings

37

Item 4.

Mine Safety Disclosures

37

Executive Officers of the Registrant (HEI)

37

 

 

 

PART II

 

 

 

Item 5.

Market for Registrants’ Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

39

Item 6.

Selected Financial Data

40

Item 7.

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

41

Item 7A.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

82

Item 8.

Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

85

Item 9.

Change in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

146

Item 9A.

Controls and Procedures

146

Item 9B.

Other Information

147

 

 

 

PART III

 

 

 

Item 10.

Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance

148

Item 11.

Executive Compensation

155

Item 12.

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters

182

Item 13.

Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

184

Item 14.

Principal Accounting Fees and Services

186

 

 

 

PART IV

 

 

 

Item 15.

Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules

187

Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm - HEI

188

Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm - HECO

190

Index to Exhibits

196

Signatures

196

 

i



 

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

 

Defined below are certain terms used in this report:

 

Terms

Definitions

 

 

2005 Act

Public Utility Holding Company Act of 2005

ABO

Accumulated benefit obligations

AES Hawaii

AES Hawaii, Inc.

AFUDC

Allowance for funds used during construction

AOCI

Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)

AOS

Adequacy of supply

APBO

Accumulated postretirement benefit obligation

ASB

American Savings Bank, F.S.B., a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Savings Holdings, Inc.

ASC

Accounting Standards Codification

ASU

Accounting Standards Update

ASHI

American Savings Holdings, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. and the parent company of American Savings Bank, F.S.B.

BIF

Bank Insurance Fund

Btu

British thermal unit

CAA

Clean Air Act

CERCLA

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act

CESP

Clean Energy Scenario Planning

Chevron

Chevron Products Company, a fuel oil supplier

CHP

Combined heat and power

CIP

Campbell Industrial Park

CIS

Customer Information System

Company

When used in Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. sections, “Company” refers to Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. and its direct and indirect subsidiaries, including, without limitation, Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. and its subsidiaries (listed under HECO); American Savings Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiary, American Savings Bank, F.S.B.; HEI Properties, Inc.; Hawaiian Electric Industries Capital Trust II and Hawaiian Electric Industries Capital Trust III (inactive financing entities); and The Old Oahu Tug Service, Inc. (formerly Hawaiian Tug & Barge Corp.).

When used in Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. sections, “Company” refers to Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. and its direct subsidiaries.

Consumer Advocate

Division of Consumer Advocacy, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs of the State of Hawaii

CT-1

Combustion turbine No. 1

D&O

Decision and order

DBF

State of Hawaii Department of Budget and Finance

DG

Distributed generation

DOD

Department of Defense – federal

Dodd-Frank Act

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010

DOH

Department of Health of the State of Hawaii

DRIP

HEI Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan

DSM

Demand-side management

ECAC

Energy cost adjustment clauses

EIP

2010 Executive Incentive Plan, as amended

Energy Agreement

Agreement dated October 20, 2008 and signed by the Governor of the State of Hawaii, the State of Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, the Division of Consumer Advocacy of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, and HECO, for itself and on behalf of its electric utility subsidiaries, committing to actions to develop renewable energy and reduce dependence on fossil fuels in support of the HCEI

EOTP

East Oahu Transmission Project

EPA

Environmental Protection Agency - federal

ERISA

Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended

 

ii



 

GLOSSARY OF TERMS (continued)

 

Terms

Definitions

 

 

ERL

Environmental Response Law of the State of Hawaii

FASB

Financial Accounting Standards Board

FDIC

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

FDICIA

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991

federal

U.S. Government

FERC

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

FHLB

Federal Home Loan Bank

FHLMC

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation

FICO

Financing Corporation

FNMA

Federal National Mortgage Association

FRB

Federal Reserve Board

GAAP

U.S. generally accepted accounting principles

GHG

Greenhouse gas

GNMA

Government National Mortgage Association

Gramm Act

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999

HCEI

Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative

HC&S

Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company, a division of A&B-Hawaii, Inc.

HECO

Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., an electric utility subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. and parent company of Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc., Maui Electric Company, Limited, HECO Capital Trust III (unconsolidated subsidiary), Renewable Hawaii, Inc. and Uluwehiokama Biofuels Corp.

HECO’s Consolidated Financial Statements

Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc.’s Consolidated Financial Statements, which are incorporated into Parts I, II, III and IV of this Form 10-K by reference to HECO Exhibit 99.2

HECO’s MD&A

Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc.’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, which is incorporated into Part I, Item 1 and Part II, Item 7 of this Form 10-K by reference to HECO Exhibit 99.2

HEI

Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc., direct parent company of Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., American Savings Holdings, Inc., HEI Properties, Inc., Hawaiian Electric Industries Capital Trust II, Hawaiian Electric Industries Capital Trust III and The Old Oahu Tug Service, Inc. (formerly Hawaiian Tug & Barge Corp.).

HEI 2012 Proxy Statement

Selected sections of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.’s 2012 Proxy Statement to be filed after the date of this Form 10-K, which are incorporated into this Form 10-K by reference

HEI’s Consolidated Financial Statements

Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.’s Consolidated Financial Statements, including notes, in Item 8 of this Form 10-K

HEI’s MD&A

Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in Item 7 of this Form 10-K

HEIII

HEI Investments, Inc. (formerly HEI Investment Corp.) (dissolved in 2008), a direct subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. since January 2007 and formerly a wholly-owned subsidiary of HEI Power Corp.

HEIPI

HEI Properties, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.

HEIRSP

Hawaiian Electric Industries Retirement Savings Plan

HELCO

Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc., an electric utility subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc.

HEP

Hamakua Energy Partners, L.P., formerly known as Encogen Hawaii, L.P.

HITI

Hawaiian Interisland Towing, Inc.

HTB

Hawaiian Tug & Barge Corp. On November 10, 1999, HTB sold substantially all of its operating assets and the stock of Young Brothers, Limited, and changed its name to The Old Oahu Tug Services, Inc.

IPP

Independent power producer

IRP

Integrated resource plan

IRR

Interest rate risk

Kalaeloa

Kalaeloa Partners, L.P.

kV

Kilovolt

KWH

Kilowatthour

LSFO

Low sulfur fuel oil

LTIP

Long-term incentive plan

 

iii



 

GLOSSARY OF TERMS (continued)

 

Terms

Definitions

 

 

MBtu

Million British thermal unit

MD&A

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

MECO

Maui Electric Company, Limited, an electric utility subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc.

Moody’s

Moody’s Investors Service’s

MSFO

Medium sulfur fuel oil

MW

Megawatt/s (as applicable)

NA

Not applicable

NAAQS

National Ambient Air Quality Standard

NM

Not meaningful

NPBC

Net periodic benefits costs

NQSO

Nonqualified stock options

O&M

Operation and maintenance

OCC

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

OPA

Federal Oil Pollution Act of 1990

OPEB

Postretirement benefits other than pensions

OTS

Office of Thrift Supervision, Department of Treasury

OTTI

Other-than-temporary impairment

PBO

Projected benefit obligation

PCB

Polychlorinated biphenyls

PECS

Pacific Energy Conservation Services, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.

PGV

Puna Geothermal Venture

PPA

Power purchase agreement

PPAC

Purchased power adjustment clause

PSD

Prevention of Significant Deterioration

PUC

Public Utilities Commission of the State of Hawaii

PURPA

Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978

QF

Qualifying Facility under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978

QTL

Qualified Thrift Lender

RAM

Revenue adjustment mechanism

RBA

Revenue balancing account

RCRA

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976

REG

Renewable Energy Group Marketing & Logistics Group LLC

Registrant

Each of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. and Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc.

RHI

Renewable Hawaii, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc.

ROACE

Return on average common equity

RORB

Return on rate base

RPS

Renewable portfolio standards

S&P

Standard & Poor’s

SAIF

Savings Association Insurance Fund

SAR

Stock appreciation right

SEC

Securities and Exchange Commission

See

Means the referenced material is incorporated by reference to HECO Exhibit 99.2 as if fully set forth herein (or means refer to the referenced section in this document or the referenced document)

SOIP

1987 Stock Option and Incentive Plan, as amended

ST

Steam turbine

state

State of Hawaii

Tesoro

Tesoro Hawaii Corporation dba BHP Petroleum Americas Refining Inc., a fuel oil supplier

TOOTS

The Old Oahu Tug Service, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.

UBC

Uluwehiokama Biofuels Corp., a non-regulated subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc.

UST

Underground storage tank

VIE

Variable interest entity

 

iv


 


 

Forward-Looking Statements

 

This report and other presentations made by Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (HEI) and Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. (HECO) and their subsidiaries contain “forward-looking statements,” which include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and usually include words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “predicts,” “estimates” or similar expressions. In addition, any statements concerning future financial performance, ongoing business strategies or prospects or possible future actions are also forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and projections about future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties and the accuracy of assumptions concerning HEI and its subsidiaries (collectively, the Company), the performance of the industries in which they do business and economic and market factors, among other things. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance.

Risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements and from historical results include, but are not limited to, the following:

·            international, national and local economic conditions, including the state of the Hawaii tourism, defense and construction industries, the strength or weakness of the Hawaii and continental U.S. real estate markets (including the fair value and/or the actual performance of collateral underlying loans held by American Savings Bank, F.S.B. (ASB), which could result in higher loan loss provisions and write-offs), decisions concerning the extent of the presence of the federal government and military in Hawaii, the implications and potential impacts of U.S. and foreign capital and credit market conditions and federal and state responses to those conditions, and the potential impacts of global developments (including unrest, conflict and the overthrow of governmental regimes in North Africa and the Middle East, terrorist acts, the war on terrorism, continuing U.S. presence in Afghanistan and potential conflict or crisis with North Korea or Iran);

·            weather and natural disasters (e.g., hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, lightning strikes and the potential effects of global warming, such as more severe storms and rising sea levels), including their impact on Company operations and the economy (e.g., the effect of the March 2011 natural disasters in Japan on its economy and tourism in Hawaii);

·            the timing and extent of changes in interest rates and the shape of the yield curve;

·            the ability of the Company to access credit markets to obtain commercial paper and other short-term and long-term debt financing (including lines of credit) and to access capital markets to issue HEI common stock under volatile and challenging market conditions, and the cost of such financings, if available;

·            the risks inherent in changes in the value of pension and other retirement plan assets and securities available for sale;

·            changes in laws, regulations, market conditions and other factors that result in changes in assumptions used to calculate retirement benefits costs and funding requirements;

·            the impact of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act) and of the rules and regulations that the Dodd-Frank Act requires to be promulgated;

·            increasing competition in the banking industry (e.g., increased price competition for deposits, or an outflow of deposits to alternative investments, which may have an adverse impact on ASB’s cost of funds);

·            the implementation of the Energy Agreement with the State of Hawaii and Consumer Advocate (Energy Agreement) setting forth the goals and objectives of a Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative (HCEI), revenue decoupling and the fulfillment by the electric utilities of their commitments under the Energy Agreement (given the Public Utilities Commission of the State of Hawaii (PUC) approvals needed; the PUC’s potential delay in considering (and potential disapproval of actual or proposed) HCEI-related costs; reliance by the Company on outside parties like the state, independent power producers (IPPs) and developers; potential changes in political support for the HCEI; and uncertainties surrounding wind power, the proposed undersea cables, biofuels, environmental assessments and the impacts of implementation of the HCEI on future costs of electricity);

·            capacity and supply constraints or difficulties, especially if generating units (utility-owned or IPP-owned) fail or measures such as demand-side management (DSM), distributed generation (DG), combined heat and power or other firm capacity supply-side resources fall short of achieving their forecasted benefits or are otherwise insufficient to reduce or meet peak demand;

·            the risk to generation reliability when generation peak reserve margins on Oahu are strained;

·            fuel oil price changes, performance by suppliers of their fuel oil delivery obligations and the continued availability to the electric utilities of their energy cost adjustment clauses (ECACs);

·            the impact of fuel price volatility on customer satisfaction and political and regulatory support for the utilities;

 

v



 

·            the risks associated with increasing reliance on renewable energy, as contemplated under the Energy Agreement, including the availability and cost of non-fossil fuel supplies for renewable energy generation and the operational impacts of adding intermittent sources of renewable energy to the electric grid;

·            the ability of IPPs to deliver the firm capacity anticipated in their power purchase agreements (PPAs);

·            the ability of the electric utilities to negotiate, periodically, favorable fuel supply and collective bargaining agreements;

·            new technological developments that could affect the operations and prospects of HEI and its subsidiaries (including HECO and its subsidiaries and ASB) or their competitors;

·            cyber security risks and the potential for cyber incidents, including potential incidents at HEI, ASB and HECO and their subsidiaries (including at ASB branches and at the electric utility plants) and incidents at data processing centers they use, to the extent not prevented by intrusion detection and prevention systems, anti-virus software, firewalls and other general information technology controls;

·            federal, state, county and international governmental and regulatory actions, such as changes in laws, rules and regulations applicable to HEI, HECO, ASB and their subsidiaries (including changes in taxation, increases in capital requirements, regulatory changes resulting from the HCEI, environmental laws and regulations, the regulation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, governmental fees and assessments (such as Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation assessments), and potential carbon “cap and trade” legislation that may fundamentally alter costs to produce electricity and accelerate the move to renewable generation);

·            decisions by the PUC in rate cases and other proceedings (including the risks of delays in the timing of decisions, adverse changes in final decisions from interim decisions and the disallowance of project costs as a result of adverse regulatory audit reports or otherwise);

·            decisions by the PUC and by other agencies and courts on land use, environmental and other permitting issues (such as required corrective actions and restrictions and penalties that may arise, such as with respect to environmental conditions or renewable portfolio standards (RPS));

·            potential enforcement actions by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and/or other governmental authorities (such as consent orders, required corrective actions, restrictions and penalties that may arise, for example, with respect to compliance deficiencies under existing or new banking and consumer protection laws and regulations or with respect to capital adequacy);

·            ability to recover increasing costs and earn a reasonable return on capital investments not covered by revenue adjustment mechanisms;

·            the risks associated with the geographic concentration of HEI’s businesses and ASB’s loans, ASB’s concentration in a single product type (i.e., first mortgages) and ASB’s significant credit relationships (i.e., concentrations of large loans and/or credit lines with certain customers);

·            changes in accounting principles applicable to HEI, HECO, ASB and their subsidiaries, including the possible adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards or new U.S. accounting standards, the potential discontinuance of regulatory accounting and the effects of potentially required consolidation of variable interest entities (VIEs) or required capital lease accounting for PPAs with IPPs;

·            changes by securities rating agencies in their ratings of the securities of HEI and HECO and the results of financing efforts;

·            faster than expected loan prepayments that can cause an acceleration of the amortization of premiums on loans and investments and the impairment of mortgage-servicing assets of ASB;

·            changes in ASB’s loan portfolio credit profile and asset quality which may increase or decrease the required level of allowance for loan losses and charge-offs;

·            changes in ASB’s deposit cost or mix which may have an adverse impact on ASB’s cost of funds;

·            the final outcome of tax positions taken by HEI, HECO, ASB and their subsidiaries;

·            the risks of suffering losses and incurring liabilities that are uninsured (e.g., damages to the utilities’ transmission and distribution system and losses from business interruption) or underinsured (e.g., losses not covered as a result of insurance deductibles or other exclusions or exceeding policy limits); and

·            other risks or uncertainties described elsewhere in this report (e.g., Item 1A. Risk Factors) and in other reports previously and subsequently filed by HEI and/or HECO with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of the report, presentation or filing in which they are made. Except to the extent required by the federal securities laws, HEI, HECO, ASB and their subsidiaries undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

 

vi



 

PART I

 

ITEM 1.          BUSINESS

 

HEI Consolidated

 

HEI and subsidiaries and lines of business.  HEI was incorporated in 1981 under the laws of the State of Hawaii and is a holding company with its principal subsidiaries engaged in electric utility and banking businesses operating primarily in the State of Hawaii. HEI’s predecessor, HECO, was incorporated under the laws of the Kingdom of Hawaii (now the State of Hawaii) on October 13, 1891. As a result of a 1983 corporate reorganization, HECO became an HEI subsidiary and common shareholders of HECO became common shareholders of HEI.

HECO and its operating utility subsidiaries, Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc. (HELCO) and Maui Electric Company, Limited (MECO), are regulated electric public utilities. HECO also owns all the common securities of HECO Capital Trust III (a Delaware statutory trust), which was formed to effect the issuance of $50 million of cumulative quarterly income preferred securities in 2004, for the benefit of HECO, HELCO and MECO. In December 2002, HECO formed a subsidiary, Renewable Hawaii, Inc., to invest in renewable energy projects, but it has made no investments and currently is inactive. In September 2007, HECO formed another subsidiary, Uluwehiokama Biofuels Corp. (UBC), to invest in a biodiesel refining plant to be built on the island of Maui, which project has been terminated.

Besides HECO and its subsidiaries, HEI also currently owns directly or indirectly the following subsidiaries: American Savings Holdings, Inc. (ASHI) (a holding company) and its subsidiary, ASB; HEI Properties, Inc. (HEIPI); Hawaiian Electric Industries Capital Trusts II and III (both formed in 1997 to be available for trust securities financings); and The Old Oahu Tug Service, Inc. (TOOTS).

ASB, acquired by HEI in 1988, is one of the largest financial institutions in the State of Hawaii with assets of $4.9 billion as of December 31, 2011.

HEIPI, whose predecessor company was formed in February 1998, holds venture capital investments with a carrying value of $0.6 million as of December 31, 2011.

TOOTS administers certain employee and retiree-related benefit programs and monitors matters related to its predecessor’s former maritime freight transportation operations.

For additional information about the Company required by this item, see HEI’s “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” (HEI’s MD&A), HEI’s “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk” and HEI’s Consolidated Financial Statements, and also see HECO’s “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” (HECO’s MD&A) and HECO’s “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk” and HECO’s Consolidated Financial Statements, which are incorporated by reference to HECO Exhibit 99.2.

The Company’s website address is www.hei.com. The information on the Company’s website is not incorporated by reference in this annual report on Form 10-K unless, and except to the extent, specifically incorporated herein by reference. HEI and HECO currently make available free of charge through this website their annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and all amendments to those reports (since 1994) as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. HEI and HECO intend to continue to use HEI’s website as a means of disclosing additional information. Such disclosures will be included on HEI’s website in the Investor Relations section. Accordingly, investors should routinely monitor such portions of HEI’s website, in addition to following HEI’s, HECO’s and ASB’s press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. Investors may also wish to refer to the PUC website at dms.puc.hawaii.gov/dms in order to review documents filed with and issued by the PUC. No information at the PUC website is incorporated herein by reference.

 

Commitments and contingencies.  See “HEI Consolidated—Liquidity and capital resources –Selected contractual obligations and commitments” in HEI’s MD&A, HECO’s “Commitments and contingencies” below and Note 4 of HEI’s “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.”

 

1



 

Regulation.  HEI and HECO are each holding companies within the meaning of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 2005 and implementing regulations (2005 Act). The 2005 Act requires holding companies and their subsidiaries to grant the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) access to books and records relating to FERC’s jurisdictional rates. FERC granted HEI and HECO a waiver from its record retention, accounting and reporting requirements, effective May 2006.

HEI is subject to an agreement entered into with the PUC (the PUC Agreement) which, among other things, requires HEI to provide the PUC with periodic financial information and other reports concerning intercompany transactions and other matters. It also prohibits the electric utilities from loaning funds to HEI or its nonutility subsidiaries and from redeeming common stock of the electric utility subsidiaries without PUC approval. Further, the PUC could limit the ability of the electric utility subsidiaries to pay dividends on their common stock. See “Restrictions on dividends and other distributions” and “Electric utility—Regulation” below.

HEI and ASHI are subject to Federal Reserve Board (FRB) registration, supervision and reporting requirements as savings and loan holding companies. As a result of the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act, supervision and regulation of HEI and ASHI, as thrift holding companies, moved to the FRB, and supervision and regulation of ASB, as a federally chartered savings bank, moved to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in July 2011. In the event the OCC has reasonable cause to believe that any activity of HEI or ASHI constitutes a serious risk to the financial safety, soundness or stability of ASB, the OCC is authorized to impose certain restrictions on HEI, ASHI and/or any of their subsidiaries. Possible restrictions include precluding or limiting: (i) the payment of dividends by ASB; (ii) transactions between ASB, HEI or ASHI, and their subsidiaries or affiliates; and (iii) any activities of ASB that might expose ASB to the liabilities of HEI and/or ASHI and their other affiliates. See “Restrictions on dividends and other distributions” below.

Bank regulations generally prohibit savings and loan holding companies and their nonthrift subsidiaries from engaging in activities other than those which are specifically enumerated in the regulations. However, the unitary savings and loan holding company relationship among HEI, ASHI and ASB is “grandfathered” under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 (Gramm Act) so that HEI and its subsidiaries will be able to continue to engage in their current activities so long as ASB satisfies the qualified thrift lender (QTL) test discussed under “Bank—Regulation—Qualified thrift lender test.” ASB met the QTL test at all times during 2011; however, the failure of ASB to satisfy the QTL test in the future could result in a need for HEI to divest ASB. HEI is also affected by provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act relating to corporate governance and executive compensation, including provisions requiring shareholder “say on pay” and “say on pay frequency” votes, mandating additional disclosures concerning executive compensation and compensation consultants and advisors, further restricting proxy voting by brokers in the absence of instructions and permitting the SEC to adopt rules in its discretion requiring public companies under specified conditions to include shareholder nominees in management’s proxy solicitation materials. See “Bank—Legislation and regulation” in HEI’s MD&A for a discussion of the effects of the Dodd-Frank Act on HEI and ASB.

 

Restrictions on dividends and other distributions.  HEI is a legal entity separate and distinct from its various subsidiaries. As a holding company with no significant operations of its own, HEI’s principal sources of funds are dividends or other distributions from its operating subsidiaries, borrowings and sales of equity. The rights of HEI and, consequently, its creditors and shareholders, to participate in any distribution of the assets of any of its subsidiaries are subject to the prior claims of the creditors and preferred shareholders of such subsidiary, except to the extent that claims of HEI in its capacity as a creditor are recognized as primary.

The abilities of certain of HEI’s subsidiaries to pay dividends or make other distributions to HEI are subject to contractual and regulatory restrictions. Under the PUC Agreement, in the event that the consolidated common stock equity of the electric utility subsidiaries falls below 35% of the total capitalization of the electric utilities (including the current maturities of long-term debt, but excluding short-term borrowings), the electric utility subsidiaries would, absent PUC approval, be restricted in their payment of cash dividends to 80% of the earnings available for the payment of dividends in the current fiscal year and preceding five years, less the amount of dividends paid during that period. The PUC Agreement also provides that the foregoing dividend restriction shall not be construed as relinquishing any right the PUC may have to review the dividend policies of the electric utility subsidiaries. As of December 31, 2011, the consolidated common stock equity of HEI’s electric utility subsidiaries was 56% of their total capitalization (as calculated for purposes of the PUC

 

2



 

Agreement). As of December 31, 2011, HECO and its subsidiaries had common stock equity of $1.4 billion of which approximately $588 million was not available for transfer to HEI without regulatory approval.

The ability of ASB to make capital distributions to HEI and other affiliates is restricted under federal law. Subject to a limited exception for stock redemptions that do not result in any decrease in ASB’s capital and would improve ASB’s financial condition, ASB is prohibited from declaring any dividends, making any other capital distributions, or paying a management fee to a controlling person if, following the distribution or payment, ASB would be deemed to be undercapitalized, significantly undercapitalized or critically undercapitalized. See “Bank—Regulation—Prompt corrective action.” All capital distributions are subject to a prior indication of no objection by the OCC and FRB. Also see Note 13 to HEI’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

HEI and its subsidiaries are also subject to debt covenants, preferred stock resolutions and the terms of guarantees that could limit their respective abilities to pay dividends. The Company does not expect that the regulatory and contractual restrictions applicable to HEI and/or its subsidiaries will significantly affect the operations of HEI or its ability to pay dividends on its common stock.

 

Environmental regulation.  HEI and its subsidiaries are subject to federal and state statutes and governmental regulations pertaining to water quality, air quality and other environmental factors. See the “Environmental regulation” discussions in the “Electric utility” and “Bank” sections below.

 

Securities ratings.  See the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) and Moody’s Investors Service’s (Moody’s) ratings of HEI’s and HECO’s securities and discussion under “Liquidity and capital resources” (both “HEI Consolidated” and “Electric utility”) in HEI’s MD&A. These ratings reflect only the view, at the time the ratings are issued, of the applicable rating agency from whom an explanation of the significance of such ratings may be obtained. There is no assurance that any such credit rating will remain in effect for any given period of time or that such rating will not be lowered, suspended or withdrawn entirely by the applicable rating agency if, in such rating agency’s judgment, circumstances so warrant. Any such lowering, suspension or withdrawal of any rating may have an adverse effect on the market price or marketability of HEI’s and/or HECO’s securities, which could increase the cost of capital of HEI and HECO. Neither HEI nor HECO management can predict future rating agency actions or their effects on the future cost of capital of HEI or HECO.

Revenue bonds are issued by the Department of Budget and Finance of the State of Hawaii for the benefit of HECO and its subsidiaries, but the source of their repayment are the unsecured obligations of HECO and its subsidiaries under loan agreements and notes issued to the Department, including HECO’s guarantees of its subsidiaries’ obligations. The payment of principal and interest due on revenue bonds currently outstanding and issued prior to 2009 are insured, but the ratings of several of these insurers have declined to ratings below HECO ratings—see “Electric Utility—Liquidity and capital resources” in HEI’s MD&A.

 

Employees.  The Company had full-time employees as follows:

 

December 31

 

2011

 

2010

 

2009

 

2008

 

2007

 

HEI

 

40

 

34

 

34

 

41

 

42

 

HECO and its subsidiaries

 

2,518

 

2,317

 

2,297

 

2,203

 

2,145

 

ASB and its subsidiaries

 

1,096

 

1,075

 

1,119

 

1,313

 

1,330

 

Other subsidiaries

 

 

 

3

 

3

 

3

 

 

 

3,654

 

3,426

 

3,453

 

3,560

 

3,520

 

 

The employees of HEI and its direct and indirect subsidiaries, other than the electric utilities, are not covered by any collective bargaining agreement. A substantial number of employees of HECO and its subsidiaries are covered by collective bargaining agreements. See “Collective bargaining agreements” in Note 3 to HEI’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

Properties.  HEI leases office space from nonaffiliated lessors in downtown Honolulu under leases that expire in March 2016. HEI also subleases office space in a downtown Honolulu building leased by HECO under a lease that expires in November 2021, with an option to extend to November 2024. See the discussions under “Electric Utility” and “Bank” below for a description of properties owned by HEI subsidiaries.

 

3



 

Electric utility

 

HECO and subsidiaries and service areas.  HECO, HELCO and MECO are regulated operating electric public utilities engaged in the production, purchase, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity on the islands of Oahu; Hawaii; and Maui, Lanai and Molokai, respectively. HECO acquired MECO in 1968 and HELCO in 1970. In 2011, the electric utilities’ revenues and net income amounted to approximately 92% and 72%, respectively, of HEI’s consolidated revenues and net income, compared to approximately 89% and 67% in 2010, and approximately 88% and 96% in 2009, respectively.

The islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Lanai and Molokai have a combined population estimated at 1.2 million, or approximately 95% of the total population of the State of Hawaii, and comprise a service area of 5,766 square miles. The principal communities served include Honolulu (on Oahu), Hilo and Kona (on Hawaii) and Wailuku and Kahului (on Maui). The service areas also include numerous suburban communities, resorts, U.S. Armed Forces installations and agricultural operations. The state has granted HECO, HELCO and MECO nonexclusive franchises, which authorize the utilities to construct, operate and maintain facilities over and under public streets and sidewalks. Each of these franchises will continue in effect for an indefinite period of time until forfeited, altered, amended or repealed.

For additional information about HECO, see HECO’s MD&A, HECO’s “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk” and HECO’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

Sales of electricity.

Years ended December 31

 

2011

 

2010

 

2009

 

 

 

Customer

 

Electric sales

 

Customer

 

Electric sales

 

Customer

 

Electric sales

 

 (dollars in thousands)

 

accounts*

 

revenues

 

accounts*

 

revenues

 

accounts*

 

revenues

 

 HECO

 

296,800

 

$2,103,859

 

296,422

 

$1,645,328

 

295,282

 

$1,379,208

 

 HELCO

 

81,199

 

443,189

 

80,695

 

371,746

 

79,813

 

342,982

 

 MECO

 

68,230

 

417,451

 

67,739

 

343,562

 

67,489

 

296,433

 

 

 

446,229

 

$2,964,499

 

444,856

 

$2,360,636

 

442,584

 

$2,018,623

 

* As of December 31.

 

SeasonalityKilowatthour (KWH) sales of HECO and its subsidiaries follow a seasonal pattern, but they do not experience extreme seasonal variations due to extreme weather variations experienced by some electric utilities on the U.S. mainland. KWH sales in Hawaii tend to increase in the warmer, more humid months, probably as a result of increased demand for air conditioning.

 

Significant customersHECO and its subsidiaries derived approximately 11%, 10% and 10% of their operating revenues in 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively, from the sale of electricity to various federal government agencies.

Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and/or executive orders: (1) federal agencies must establish energy conservation goals for federally funded programs, (2) goals were set to reduce federal agencies’ energy consumption by 3% per year up to 30% by fiscal year 2015 relative to fiscal year 2003, and (3) renewable energy goals were established for electricity consumed by federal agencies. HECO continues to work with various federal agencies to implement measures that will help them achieve their energy reduction and renewable energy objectives.

 

Energy Agreement, energy efficiency and decouplingOn October 20, 2008, the Governor, the Hawaii Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism, the Consumer Advocate and the utilities entered into an Energy Agreement pursuant to which they agreed to undertake a number of initiatives to help accomplish the objectives of the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative (HCEI) established under a memorandum of understanding between the State of Hawaii and U.S. Department of Energy. The primary objective of the HCEI and Energy Agreement is to reduce Hawaii’s dependence on imported fuels through substantial increases in the use of renewable energy and implementation of new programs intended to secure greater energy efficiency and conservation. See Note 3 of HEI’s Consolidated Financial Statements. One of the initiatives under the Energy Agreement was advanced when, in 2009, the state legislature enacted Act 155, which gave the PUC the authority to establish an Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (EEPS) goal of 4,300 GWH of electricity use reductions by 2030. The PUC issued a decision and order (D&O) on January 3, 2012 approving

 

4



 

a framework for EEPS that set 2008 as the initial base year for evaluation and linearly allocated the 2030 goal to interim incremental reduction goals of 1,375 GWH by 2015 and 975 GWH by each of the years 2020, 2025 and 2030. These goals may be revised through goal evaluations scheduled every five years or as the result of recommendations by an EEPS technical working group (TWG) for consideration by the PUC. The interim and final reduction goals will be allocated among contributing entities by the EEPS TWG. The PUC may establish penalties in the future. Another of the initiatives was advanced when the PUC approved the implementation of revenue decoupling for HECO and HELCO under which HECO (beginning in 2011) and HELCO (to begin later in 2012) are allowed to recover PUC-approved revenue requirements that are not based on the amount of electricity sold. Both the EEPS and the implementation of revenue decoupling could have an impact on sales. However, neither HEI nor HECO management can predict with certainty the impact of these or other governmental mandates, the HCEI or the Energy Agreement on HEI’s or HECO’s future results of operations, financial condition or liquidity.

 

5


 


 

Selected consolidated electric utility operating statistics.

Years ended December 31

 

2011

 

2010

 

2009

 

2008

 

2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KWH sales (millions)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Residential

 

2,769.7

 

2,830.0

 

2,893.3

 

2,924.7

 

3,035.5

 

Commercial

 

3,203.8

 

3,185.0

 

3,221.7

 

3,326.3

 

3,340.6

 

Large light and power

 

3,503.4

 

3,512.8

 

3,524.5

 

3,632.9

 

3,690.2

 

Other

 

50.0

 

50.8

 

50.2

 

52.3

 

51.8

 

 

 

9,526.9

 

9,578.6

 

9,689.7

 

9,936.2

 

10,118.1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KWH net generated and purchased (millions)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net generated

 

6,022.2

 

6,053.6

 

6,117.6

 

6,261.8

 

6,478.6

 

Purchased

 

4,009.7

 

4,062.8

 

4,119.8

 

4,248.2

 

4,228.0

 

 

 

10,031.9

 

10,116.4

 

10,237.4

 

10,510.0

 

10,706.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Losses and system uses (%)

 

4.8

 

5.1

 

5.1

 

5.2

 

5.3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Energy supply (December 31)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net generating capability—MW 1

 

1,787

 

1,785

 

1,815

 

1,687

 

1,685

 

Firm purchased capability—MW

 

540

 

540

 

532

 

540

 

538

 

 

 

2,327

 

2,325

 

2,347

 

2,227

 

2,223

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net peak demand—MW 2

 

1,530

 

1,562

 

1,618

 

1,590

 

1,635

 

Btu per net KWH generated

 

10,609

 

10,617

 

10,753

 

10,700

 

10,807

 

Average fuel oil cost per Mbtu (cents)

 

1,986.7

 

1,404.8

 

1,026.4

 

1,840.0

 

1,108.2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Customer accounts (December 31)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Residential

 

390,133

 

388,307

 

385,886

 

383,042

 

381,964

 

Commercial

 

53,904

 

54,374

 

54,527

 

55,243

 

55,869

 

Large light and power

 

567

 

548

 

558

 

543

 

554

 

Other

 

1,625

 

1,627

 

1,613

 

1,583

 

1,510

 

 

 

446,229

 

444,856

 

442,584

 

440,411

 

439,897

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Electric revenues (thousands)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Residential

 

$   946,653

 

$   781,467

 

$   690,656

 

$   935,061

 

$   713,241

 

Commercial

 

1,024,725

 

814,109

 

694,087

 

973,048

 

714,218

 

Large light and power

 

976,949

 

752,056

 

623,159

 

921,321

 

652,298

 

Other

 

16,172

 

13,004

 

10,721

 

15,069

 

10,791

 

 

 

$2,964,499

 

$2,360,636

 

$2,018,623

 

$2,844,499

 

$2,090,548

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Average revenue per KWH sold (cents)

 

31.12

 

24.65

 

20.83

 

28.63

 

20.66

 

Residential

 

34.18

 

27.61

 

23.87

 

31.97

 

23.50

 

Commercial

 

31.99

 

25.56

 

21.54

 

29.25

 

21.38

 

Large light and power

 

27.89

 

21.41

 

17.68

 

25.36

 

17.68

 

Other

 

32.37

 

25.63

 

21.36

 

28.81

 

20.81

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Residential statistics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Average annual use per customer account (KWH)

 

7,117

 

7,317

 

7,523

 

7,640

 

7,996

 

Average annual revenue per customer account

 

$2,433

 

$2,021

 

$1,796

 

$2,443

 

$1,879

 

Average number of customer accounts

 

389,160

 

386,767

 

384,600

 

382,821

 

379,621

 

 

1              The reduction in net generating capability in 2010 was attributable to the removal of distributed generation units at substations.

2              Sum of the net peak demands on all islands served, noncoincident and nonintegrated.

 

6



 

Generation statistics.  The following table contains certain generation statistics as of, and for the year ended, December 31, 2011. The net generating and firm purchased capability available for operation at any given time may be more or less than shown because of capability restrictions or temporary outages for inspection, maintenance, repairs or unforeseen circumstances.

 

 

 

Island of
Oahu-
HECO

 

Island of
Hawaii-
HELCO

 

Island of
Maui-
MECO

 

Island of
Lanai-
MECO

 

Island of
Molokai-
MECO

 

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net generating and firm purchased capability
(MW) as of December 31, 20111

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conventional oil-fired steam units

 

1,106.8

 

63.8

 

35.9

 

 

 

1,206.5

 

Diesel

 

 

30.8

 

96.8

 

10.1

 

9.6

 

147.3

 

Combustion turbines (peaking units)

 

214.8

 

 

 

 

 

214.8

 

Other combustion turbines

 

 

46.3

 

 

 

2.2

 

48.5

 

Combined-cycle unit

 

 

56.2

 

113.6

 

 

 

169.8

 

Firm contract power2

 

434.0

 

90.0

 

16.0

 

 

 

540.0

 

 

 

1,755.6

 

287.1

 

262.3

 

10.1

 

11.8

 

2,326.9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net peak demand (MW)

 

1,141.0

 

189.2

 

189.9

 

4.6

 

5.7

 

1,530.4

3

Reserve margin

 

55.8

%

51.7

%

38.1

%

120.0

%

107.8

%

56.1

%

Annual load factor

 

76.0

%

71.6

%

71.6

%

64.8

%

67.4

%

74.8

%

KWH net generated and purchased (millions)

 

7,593.8

 

1,186.6

 

1,191.8

 

26.1

 

33.6

 

10,031.9

 

 

1     HECO units at normal ratings; MECO and HELCO units at reserve ratings.

2                    Nonutility generators— HECO: 208 MW (Kalaeloa Partners, L.P., oil-fired), 180 MW (AES Hawaii, Inc., coal-fired) and 46 MW (HPower, refuse-fired); HELCO: 30 MW (Puna Geothermal Venture, geothermal) and 60 MW (Hamakua Energy Partners, L.P., oil-fired); MECO: 16 MW (Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company, primarily bagasse-fired).

3     Noncoincident and nonintegrated.

 

Generating reliability and reserve margin.  HECO serves the island of Oahu and HELCO serves the island of Hawaii. MECO has three separate electrical systems—one each on the islands of Maui, Molokai and Lanai. HECO, HELCO and MECO have isolated electrical systems that are not currently interconnected to each other or to any other electrical grid and, thus, each maintains a higher level of reserve generation than is typically carried by interconnected mainland U.S. utilities, which are able to share reserve capacity. These higher levels of reserve margins are required to meet peak electric demands, to provide for scheduled maintenance of generating units (including the units operated by IPPs relied upon for firm capacity) and to allow for the forced outage of the largest generating unit in the system.

See “Adequacy of supply” in HEI’s MD&A under “Electric utility.”

 

Nonutility generation.  The Company has supported state and federal energy policies which encourage the development of renewable energy sources that reduce the use of fuel oil as well as the development of qualifying facilities. The Company’s renewable energy sources and potential sources range from wind, solar, photovoltaic, geothermal, wave and hydroelectric power to energy produced by the burning of bagasse (sugarcane waste), municipal waste and other biofuels.

The rate schedules of HECO contain purchased power adjustment clauses that allow HECO to recover purchase power expenses through a surcharge mechanism.

In addition to the firm capacity PPAs described below, the electric utilities also purchase energy on an as-available basis directly from nonutility generators and through its Feed-In Tariff and net metering programs from renewable energy sources.

The PUC has allowed rate recovery for the firm capacity and purchased energy costs for the electric utilities’ approved firm capacity and as-available energy PPAs.

 

HECO firm capacity PPAsHECO currently has three major PPAs that provide a total of 434 MW of firm capacity, representing 25% of HECO’s total net generating and firm purchased capacity on Oahu as of December 31, 2011. In March 1988, HECO entered into a PPA with AES Barbers Point, Inc. (now known as AES Hawaii, Inc. (AES Hawaii)), a Hawaii-based, indirect subsidiary of The AES Corporation. The agreement with AES Hawaii, as amended, provides that, for a period of 30 years beginning September 1992, HECO will purchase 180 megawatts (MW) of firm capacity. The AES Hawaii 180 MW coal-fired cogeneration plant utilizes

 

7



 

a “clean coal” technology and is designed to sell sufficient steam to be a “Qualifying Facility” (QF) under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA).

In October 1988, HECO entered into an agreement with Kalaeloa Partners, L.P. (Kalaeloa), a limited partnership, which, through affiliates, contracted to design, build, operate and maintain a QF. The agreement with Kalaeloa, as amended, provided that HECO would purchase 180 MW of firm capacity for a period of 25 years beginning in May 1991 and terminating in May 2016. The Kalaeloa facility is a combined-cycle operation, consisting of two oil-fired combustion turbines burning low sulfur fuel oil (LSFO) and a steam turbine that utilizes waste heat from the combustion turbines. Following two additional amendments, effective in 2005, Kalaeloa currently supplies HECO with 208 MW of firm capacity. In 2011, HECO filed an application with the PUC seeking a declaratory order that HECO is exempt from the rules under the PUC’s Competitive Bidding Framework, or in the alternative that HECO be granted a waiver from the rules, to renegotiate the agreement in anticipation of its expiration. The PUC has not issued a declaratory order, but HECO has initiated the process of renegotiating the agreement with Kalaeloa pending the PUC’s decision.

HECO also entered into a PPA in March 1986 and a firm capacity amendment in April 1991 with the City and County of Honolulu with respect to a refuse-fired plant (HPower). The HPower facility currently supplies HECO with 46 MW of firm capacity. Under the amendment, HECO will purchase firm capacity until mid-2015. HECO is currently in negotiations with the City and County of Honolulu for a PPA (exempt from rules under the PUC’s Competitive Bidding Framework) to purchase a total of 73 MW of firm capacity for a term of 20 years.

 

HELCO and MECO firm capacity PPAsAs of December 31, 2011, HELCO has PPAs for 98 MW (of which 90 MW are currently available) and MECO has a PPA for 16 MW (including 4 MW of system protection) of firm capacity.

HELCO has a 35-year PPA with Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV) for 30 MW of firm capacity from its geothermal steam facility, which will expire on December 31, 2027. In February 2011, HELCO and PGV amended the current PPA for the pricing on a portion of the energy payments and entered into a new PPA for HELCO to acquire an additional 8 MW of firm, dispatchable capacity from the facility. Both the amendment and the new PPA were approved by the PUC on December 30, 2011.

In October 1997, HELCO entered into an agreement with Encogen, which has been succeeded by Hamakua Energy Partners, L. P. (HEP). The agreement requires HELCO to purchase up to 60 MW (net) of firm capacity for a period of 30 years, expiring on December 31, 2030. The dual-train combined-cycle DTCC facility, which primarily burns naphtha, consists of two oil-fired combustion turbines and a steam turbine that utilizes waste heat from the combustion turbines.

MECO has a PPA with Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company (HC&S) for 16 MW of firm capacity. The HC&S generating units primarily burn bagasse (sugar cane waste) along with secondary fuels of diesel oil or coal. The PPA runs through December 31, 2014, and from year to year thereafter, subject to termination on or after December 31, 2014 on not less than two years’ prior written notice by either party.

 

Fuel oil usage and supply.  The rate schedules of the Company’s electric utility subsidiaries include ECACs under which electric rates (and consequently the revenues of the electric utility subsidiaries generally) are adjusted for changes in the weighted-average price paid for fuel oil and certain components of purchased power, and the relative amounts of company-generated power and purchased power. See discussion of rates and issues relating to the ECAC below under “Rates,” and “Electric utility—Certain factors that may affect future results and financial condition—Regulation of electric utility rates” and “Electric utility—Material estimates and critical accounting policies–Revenues” in HEI’s MD&A.

HECO’s steam generating units burn LSFO. HECO’s combustion turbine peaking units burn diesel fuel (diesel) and B99 grade biodiesel (biodiesel). HECO’s CIP CT-1 is being operated exclusively on biodiesel. A HECO steam unit has successfully completed a co-firing project to test burn mixtures of LSFO and crude palm oil.

MECO’s and HELCO’s steam generating units burn medium sulfur fuel oil (MSFO) and HELCO’s and MECO’s Maui and Molokai combustion turbine and diesel engine generating units burn diesel and biodiesel. MECO’s Lanai diesel engine generating units burn high- and ultra-low-sulfur grades of diesel. A MECO diesel generating unit has successfully completed a biodiesel test fire project.

 

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See the fuel oil commitments information set forth in the “Fuel contracts” section in Note 3 to HEI’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

The following table sets forth the average cost of fuel oil used by HECO, HELCO and MECO to generate electricity in the years 2011, 2010 and 2009:

 

 

 

HECO

 

HELCO

 

MECO

 

Consolidated

 

 

 

$/Barrel

 

¢/MBtu

 

$/Barrel

 

¢/MBtu

 

$/Barrel

 

¢/MBtu

 

$/Barrel

 

¢/MBtu

 

  2011

 

122.94

 

1,949.6

 

118.09

 

1,934.1

 

129.58

 

2,178.3

 

123.63

 

1,986.7

 

  2010

 

85.49

 

1,352.1

 

89.33

 

1,460.4

 

95.17

 

1,595.8

 

87.62

 

1,404.8

 

  2009

 

60.90

 

966.5

 

68.28

 

1,109.0

 

73.54

 

1,231.9

 

63.91

 

1,026.4

 

 

The average per-unit cost of fuel oil consumed to generate electricity for HECO, HELCO and MECO reflects a different volume mix of fuel types and grades as follows:

 

 

 

HECO

 

HELCO

 

MECO

 

 

 

LSFO

 

Diesel/Biodiesel

 

MSFO

 

Diesel

 

MSFO

 

Diesel/Biodiesel

 

  2011

 

99

%

 

1

%

 

56

%

 

44

%

 

22

%

 

78

%

 

  2010

 

99

 

 

1

 

 

58

 

 

42

 

 

24

 

 

76

 

 

  2009

 

98

 

 

2

 

 

67

 

 

33

 

 

25

 

 

75

 

 

 

In general, MSFO is the least costly fuel, biodiesel and diesel are the most expensive fuels and the price of LSFO falls in-between on a per-barrel basis. In 2011, the prices of all petroleum fuels trended strongly higher through the spring and were generally stable thereafter. In 2011, the prices of LSFO, MSFO and diesel increased by approximately 40%, 40% and 30%, respectively. The per-unit price of biodiesel increased steadily with about a 42% increase in 2011.

In December 2000, HELCO and MECO executed contracts of private carriage with Hawaiian Interisland Towing, Inc. (HITI) for the employment of a double-hull tank barge for the shipment of MSFO and diesel supplies from their fuel suppliers’ facilities on Oahu to storage locations on the islands of Hawaii and Maui, respectively, commencing January 1, 2002. The contracts have been extended through December 31, 2016. In July 2011, the carriage contracts were assigned to Kirby Corporation (Kirby), which provides refined petroleum and other products for marine transportation, distribution and logistics services in the U.S. domestic marine transportation industry.

Kirby never takes title to the fuel oil or diesel fuel, but does have custody and control while the fuel is in transit from Oahu. If there were an oil spill in transit, Kirby is generally contractually obligated to indemnify HELCO and/or MECO for resulting clean-up costs, fines and damages. Kirby maintains liability insurance coverage for an amount in excess of $1 billion for oil spill related damage. State law provides a cap of $700 million on liability for releases of heavy fuel oil transported interisland by tank barge. In the event of a release, HELCO and/or MECO may be responsible for any clean-up, damages, and/or fines that Kirby and its insurance carrier do not cover.

The prices that HECO, HELCO and MECO pay for purchased energy from nonutility generators are generally linked to the price of oil. The AES Hawaii energy prices vary primarily with an inflation index. The energy prices for Kalaeloa, which purchases LSFO from Tesoro Hawaii Corporation (Tesoro), vary primarily with world LSFO prices. The HPower, HC&S and PGV energy prices are based on the electric utilities’ respective PUC-filed short-run avoided energy cost rates (which vary with their respective composite fuel costs), subject to minimum floor rates specified in their approved PPAs. HEP energy prices vary primarily with HELCO’s diesel costs.

The utilities estimate that 73% of the net energy they will generate and purchase in 2012 will be generated from the burning of fossil fuel oil. HECO generally maintains an average system fuel inventory level equivalent to 47 days of forward consumption. HELCO and MECO generally maintain an average system fuel inventory level equivalent to approximately one month’s supply of both MSFO and diesel. The PPAs with AES Hawaii and HEP require that they maintain certain minimum fuel inventory levels.

 

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Rates.  HECO, HELCO and MECO are subject to the regulatory jurisdiction of the PUC with respect to rates, issuance of securities, accounting and certain other matters. See “Regulation” below.

Rate schedules of HECO and its subsidiaries contain ECACs and rate schedules of HECO contain purchased power adjustment clauses (PPACs). HELCO’s rate schedules will contain PPACs when the final rates from the 2010 test year rate case become effective. Under current law and practices, specific and separate PUC approval is not required for each rate change pursuant to automatic rate adjustment clauses previously approved by the PUC. All other rate increases require the prior approval of the PUC after public and contested case hearings. PURPA requires the PUC to periodically review the ECACs of electric and gas utilities in the state, and such clauses, as well as the rates charged by the utilities generally, are subject to change.

See “Electric utility–Most recent rate proceedings, “Electric utility–Certain factors that may affect future results and financial condition–Regulation of electric utility rates” and “Electric utility–Material estimates and critical accounting policies–Revenues” in HEI’s MD&A and “Interim increases” and “Major projects” under “Commitments and contingencies” in Note 3 to HEI’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

Public Utilities Commission and Division of Consumer Advocacy of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs of the State of Hawaii.  Hermina Morita is the Chairman of the PUC (for a term that will expire in June 2014) and was formerly a State Representative. The other commissioners are Michael E. Champley (for a term that will expire in June 2016, subject to confirmation by the State Senate), who previously was a senior energy consultant and a senior executive with DTE Energy, and John E. Cole (for a term that will expire in June 2012), who previously was the Executive Director of the Division of Consumer Advocacy.

The Executive Director of the Division of Consumer Advocacy is Jeffrey T. Ono, an attorney previously in private practice.

 

Competition.  See “Electric utility–Certain factors that may affect future results and financial condition–Competition” in HEI’s MD&A.

 

Electric and magnetic fields.  The generation, transmission and use of electricity produces low-frequency (50Hz-60Hz) electrical and magnetic fields (EMF). While EMF has been classified as a possible human carcinogen by more than one public health organization and remains the subject of ongoing studies and evaluations, no definite causal relationship between EMF and health risks has been clearly demonstrated to date and there are no federal standards in the U.S. limiting occupational or residential exposure to 50Hz-60Hz EMF. HECO and its subsidiaries are continuing to monitor the ongoing research and continue to participate in utility industry funded studies on EMF and, where technically feasible and economically reasonable, continue to pursue a policy of prudent avoidance in the design and installation of new transmission and distribution facilities. Management cannot predict the impact, if any, the EMF issue may have on HECO, HELCO and MECO in the future.

 

Global climate change and greenhouse gas emissions reduction.  The Company shares the concerns of many regarding the potential effects of global warming and the human contributions to this phenomenon, including burning of fossil fuels for electricity production, transportation, manufacturing and agricultural activities, as well as deforestation. Recognizing that effectively addressing global warming requires commitment by the private sector, all levels of government, and the public, the Company is committed to taking direct action to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from its operations. See “Environmental regulation—Global climate change and greenhouse gas emissions reduction” under “Commitments and contingencies” in Note 3 to HEI’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

Legislation.  See “Electric utility–Legislation and regulation” in HEI’s MD&A.

 

Commitments and contingencies.  See “Selected contractual obligations and commitments” in HECO’s MD&A and “Electric utility–Certain factors that may affect future results and financial condition–Other regulatory and permitting contingencies” in HEI’s MD&A, Item 1A. Risk Factors, and Note 3 to HEI’s Consolidated Financial Statements for a discussion of important commitments and contingencies.

 

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Regulation.  The PUC regulates the rates, issuance of securities, accounting and certain other aspects of the operations of HECO and its electric utility subsidiaries. See the previous discussion under “Rates” and the discussions under “Electric utility–Results of operations–Most recent rate proceedings” and “Electric utility–Certain factors that may affect future results and financial condition–Regulation of electric utility rates” in HEI’s MD&A.

Any adverse decision or policy made or adopted by the PUC, or any prolonged delay in rendering a decision, could have a material adverse effect on consolidated HECO’s and the Company’s results of operations, financial condition or liquidity.

On October 20, 2008, HECO signed an Energy Agreement (see “Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative” under “Commitments and contingencies” in Note 3 to HEI’s Consolidated Financial Statements) setting forth goals, objectives and actions with the purpose of decreasing Hawaii’s dependence on imported fossil fuels through substantial increases in the use of renewable energy and implementation of new programs intended to secure greater energy efficiency and conservation. As a result of the Energy Agreement, numerous PUC proceedings have been initiated, many of which have been completed, as described elsewhere in this report.

In 2009, the State Legislature amended Hawaii’s RPS law to require electric utilities (either individually or on a consolidated basis) to meet an RPS of 10%, 15%, 25% and 40% by December 31, 2010, 2015, 2020 and 2030, respectively. Energy savings resulting from energy efficiency programs will not count toward the RPS after 2014 (only electrical generation using renewable energy as a source will count). The amended RPS law is consistent with the commitment in the Energy Agreement.

Certain transactions between HEI’s electric public utility subsidiaries (HECO, HELCO and MECO) and HEI and affiliated interests (as defined by statute) are subject to regulation by the PUC. All contracts of $300,000 or more in a calendar year for management, supervisory, construction, engineering, accounting, legal, financial and similar services and for the sale, lease or transfer of property between a public utility and affiliated interests must be filed with the PUC to be effective, and the PUC may issue cease and desist orders if such contracts are not filed. All such “affiliated contracts” for capital expenditures (except for real property) must be accompanied by comparative price quotations from two nonaffiliates, unless the quotations cannot be obtained without substantial expense. Moreover, all transfers of $300,000 or more of real property between a public utility and affiliated interests require the prior approval of the PUC and proof that the transfer is in the best interest of the public utility and its customers. If the PUC, in its discretion, determines that an affiliated contract is unreasonable or otherwise contrary to the public interest, the utility must either revise the contract or risk disallowance of payments under the contract for rate-making purposes. In rate-making proceedings, a utility must also prove the reasonableness of payments made to affiliated interests under any affiliated contract of $300,000 or more by clear and convincing evidence.

In December 1996, the PUC issued an order in a docket that had been opened to review the relationship between HEI and HECO and the effects of that relationship on the operations of HECO. The order adopted the report of the consultant the PUC had retained and ordered HECO to continue to provide the PUC with periodic status reports on its compliance with the PUC Agreement (pursuant to which HEI became the holding company of HECO). HECO files such status reports annually. In the order, the PUC also required HECO, HELCO and MECO to present a comprehensive analysis of the impact that the holding company structure and investments in nonutility subsidiaries have on a case-by-case basis on the cost of capital to each utility in future rate cases and remove any such effects from the cost of capital. HECO, HELCO and MECO have made presentations in their subsequent rate cases to support their positions that there was no evidence that would modify the PUC’s finding that HECO’s access to capital did not suffer as a result of HEI’s involvement in nonutility activities and that HEI’s diversification did not permanently raise or lower the cost of capital incorporated into the rates paid by HECO’s utility customers.

HECO and its electric utility subsidiaries are not subject to regulation by the FERC under the Federal Power Act, except under Sections 210 through 212 (added by Title II of PURPA and amended by the Energy Policy Act of 1992), which permit the FERC to order electric utilities to interconnect with qualifying cogenerators and small power producers, and to wheel power to other electric utilities. Title I of PURPA, which relates to retail regulatory policies for electric utilities, and Title VII of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which

 

11



 

addresses transmission access, also apply to HECO and its electric utility subsidiaries. HECO and its electric utility subsidiaries are also required to file various operational reports with the FERC.

Because they are located in the State of Hawaii, HECO and its subsidiaries are exempt by statute from limitations set forth in the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 on the use of petroleum as a primary energy source.

See also “HEI–Regulation” above.

 

Environmental regulation.  HECO, HELCO and MECO, like other utilities, are subject to periodic inspections by federal, state and, in some cases, local environmental regulatory agencies, including agencies responsible for the regulation of water quality, air quality, hazardous and other waste, and hazardous materials. These inspections may result in the identification of items needing corrective or other action. When the corrective or other necessary action is taken, no further regulatory action is expected. Except as otherwise disclosed in this report (see “Certain factors that may affect future results and financial condition–Environmental matters” for HEI Consolidated, the Electric utility and the Bank sections in HEI’s MD&A and Note 3 to HEI’s Consolidated Financial Statements, which are incorporated herein by reference), the Company believes that each subsidiary has appropriately responded to environmental conditions requiring action and that, as a result of such actions, such environmental conditions will not have a material adverse effect on the Company or HECO.

 

Water quality controls.  The generating stations, substations and other utility facilities operate under federal and state water quality regulations and permits, including but not limited to the Clean Water Act National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (governing point source discharges, including wastewater and storm water discharges), Underground Injection Control (regulating disposal of wastewater into the subsurface), the Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) program, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), and other regulations associated with discharges of oil and other substances to surface water.

OPA governs actual or threatened oil releases and establishes strict and joint and several liability for responsible parties for (1) oil removal costs incurred by the federal government or the state, and (2) damages to natural resources and real or personal property, as well as compensation for certain economic damages. Responsible parties include vessel owners and operators of on-shore facilities. OPA imposes fines and jail terms ranging in severity depending on how the release was caused.

In 2011 and 2012 to date, HECO, HELCO and MECO did not experience any significant petroleum releases. The Company believes that each subsidiary’s costs of responding to petroleum releases to date will not have a material adverse effect on the respective subsidiary or the Company.

EPA regulations under OPA also require certain facilities that use or store petroleum to prepare and implement SPCC Plans in order to prevent releases of petroleum to navigable waters of the U.S.  The determination of whether SPCC Plan requirements are applicable to a facility depends on the amount of petroleum stored at the facility and whether a release of petroleum could reach waters of the U.S.  The HECO, HELCO, and MECO facilities that are subject to SPCC Plan requirements, including most power plants, base yards, and certain substations, are in compliance with SPCC Plan requirements.

As required by section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act, proposed regulations governing protection of aquatic organisms in cooling water intake structures at three of HECO’s power plants were issued by the EPA. The EPA is scheduled to issue the final rule by July 27, 2012. Depending on the ultimate regulations adopted by the EPA, the cost of compliance could be significant.

 

Air quality controls.  The generating stations of the utility subsidiaries operate under air pollution control permits issued by the Department of Health of the State of Hawaii (DOH) and, in a limited number of cases, by the EPA. The entire electric utility industry has been affected by the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act (CAA), changes to the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone, adoption of a NAAQS for fine particulate matter, and the EPA’s 1-hour NAAQS for nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide (adopted in 2010).  On December 21, 2011, the EPA issued the final rule establishing the EPA’s National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for fossil-fuel fired steam electrical generating units (see “Environmental regulation” in Note 3 to HEI’s “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements”).

 

12



 

The EPA has also required HELCO (for its Hill Power Plant) and MECO (for its Kahului Power Plant) to develop evaluations of emission controls for generating units at those plants that the EPA believes contribute to Regional Haze. Under the terms of a consent decree, the EPA has committed to issue proposed rules, known as a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP), for the State of Hawaii by mid-May 2012 and a final FIP by mid-September 2012. Depending on final FIP, the cost of compliance for HELCO and MECO could be significant.

The CAA amendments of 1990, among other things, established a federal operating permits program (in Hawaii known as the Covered Source Permit program) and greatly expanded the hazardous air pollutant program. The more stringent NAAQS will affect new or modified generating units requiring a permit to construct under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program and the controls necessary to meet the NAAQS.

CAA operating permits (Title V permits) have been issued for all affected generating units.

 

Hazardous waste and toxic substances controls.  The operations of the electric utility and former freight transportation subsidiaries of HEI are subject to EPA regulations that implement provisions of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

RCRA underground storage tank (UST) regulations require all facilities with USTs used for storing petroleum products to comply with leak detection, spill prevention and new tank standard retrofit requirements. All HECO, HELCO and MECO USTs currently meet these standards.

The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act under SARA Title III requires HECO, HELCO and MECO to report potentially hazardous chemicals present in their facilities in order to provide the public with information so that emergency procedures can be established to protect the public in the event of hazardous chemical releases. All HECO, HELCO and MECO facilities are in compliance with applicable annual reporting requirements to the State Emergency Planning Commission, the Local Emergency Planning Committee and local fire departments. Since January 1, 1998, the steam electric industry category has been subject to Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting requirements. All HECO, HELCO and MECO facilities are in compliance with TRI reporting requirements.

The TSCA regulations specify procedures for the handling and disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), a compound found in some transformer and capacitor dielectric fluids. The TSCA regulations also apply to responses to releases of PCB to the environment. HECO, HELCO and MECO have instituted procedures to monitor compliance with these regulations and have implemented a program to identify and replace PCB transformers and capacitors in their systems. Management believes that all HECO, HELCO and MECO facilities are currently in compliance with PCB regulations. In April 2010, the EPA issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rule Making announcing its intent to reassess PCB regulations.

Hawaii’s Environmental Response Law, as amended (ERL), governs releases of hazardous substances, including oil, to the environment in areas within the state’s jurisdiction. Responsible parties under the ERL are jointly, severally and strictly liable for a release of a hazardous substance. Responsible parties include owners or operators of a facility where a hazardous substance is located and any person who at the time of disposal of the hazardous substance owned or operated any facility at which such hazardous substance was disposed.

HECO, HELCO and MECO periodically identify leaking petroleum-containing equipment such as USTs, piping and transformers. In a few instances, small amounts of PCBs have been identified in the leaking equipment. Each subsidiary reports releases from such equipment when and as required by applicable law and addresses impacts due to the releases in compliance with applicable regulatory requirements.

 

Research and development.  HECO and its subsidiaries expensed approximately $4.3 million, $4.0 million and $4.4 million in 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively, for research and development (R&D). In 2011, 2010 and 2009, the electric utilities’ contributions to the Electric Power Research Institute accounted for approximately half of the R&D expenses. There were also utility expenditures in 2011, 2010 and 2009 related to new technologies, biofuels, energy storage, electric and hybrid plug in vehicles and other renewables (e.g., wind and solar power integration and solar resource evaluation).

 

13



 

Properties.

 

HECO owns and operates four generating plants on the island of Oahu at Honolulu, Waiau, Kahe and Campbell Industrial Park (CIP). These plants have an aggregate net generating capability of 1,321.6 MW as of December 31, 2011. The four plants are situated on HECO-owned land having a combined area of 535 acres and one 3.5-acre parcel of land under a lease expiring December 31, 2018. In addition, HECO owns a total of 132 acres of land on which substations, transformer vaults, distribution baseyards and the Kalaeloa cogeneration facility are located.

HECO owns buildings and approximately 11.6 acres of land located in Honolulu which houses its operating, engineering and information services departments and a warehousing center. It also leases an office building and certain office space in Honolulu. The lease for the office building expires in November 2021, with an option to extend through November 2024. Leases for certain office and warehouse spaces expire on various dates from December 31, 2012 through June 30, 2021 with options to extend to various dates through November 30, 2022.

HECO owns land at CIP used to situate central fuel storage facilities adjacent to its CIP combustion turbine No. 1 (CT-1) generating unit facility with an aggregate usable capacity of 786,632 barrels of fuel, which land is included in the power plant acreage above. HECO also has fuel storage facilities at each of its plant sites with a combined usable capacity of 869,093 barrels, as well as underground fuel pipelines that transport fuel from HECO’s central fuel storage at CIP to fuel storage facilities at HECO’s generating stations at Waiau and Kahe. HECO also owns a fuel storage facility at Iwilei, which receives fuel trucked from the central storage facility, with a combined usable capacity of 76,735 barrels, and an under-ground pipeline that transports fuel from that site to its Honolulu generating station.

 

HELCO owns and operates five generating plants on the island of Hawaii, two at Hilo and one at each of Waimea, Keahole and Puna, along with distributed generators at substation sites. These plants have an aggregate net generating capability of 197.1 MW as of December 31, 2011 (excluding several small run-of-river hydro units). The plants are situated on HELCO-owned land having a combined area of approximately 44 acres. The distributed generators are located within HELCO-owned substation sites having a combined area of approximately 4 acres. HELCO also owns fuel storage facilities at these sites with a total maximum usable capacity of 66,387 barrels of bunker oil, and 83,819 barrels of diesel. There are an additional 17,600 barrels of diesel and 22,770 barrels of bunker oil storage capacity for HELCO-owned fuel off-site at Chevron Products Company (Chevron)-owned terminalling facilities. HELCO pays a storage fee to Chevron and has no other interest in the property, tanks or other infrastructure situated on Chevron’s property. HELCO also owns 6 acres of land in Kona, which is used for a baseyard, and one acre of land in Hilo, which houses its accounting, customer services and administrative offices. HELCO also leases 3.7 acres of land for its baseyard in Hilo under a lease expiring in 2030. In addition, HELCO owns a total of approximately 100 acres of land, and leases a total of approximately 8.5 acres of land, on which hydro facilities, substations and switching stations, microwave facilities, and transmission lines are located. The deeds to the sites located in Hilo contain certain restrictions, but the restrictions do not materially interfere with the use of the sites for public utility purposes.

 

MECO owns and operates two generating plants on the island of Maui, at Kahului and Maalaea, with an aggregate net generating capability of 246.3 MW as of December 31, 2011. The plants are situated on MECO-owned land having a combined area of 28.6 acres. MECO also owns fuel oil storage facilities at these sites with a total maximum usable capacity of 176,355 barrels of fuel. MECO owns two 1 MW stand-by diesel generators and a 6,000 gallon fuel storage tank located in Hana. MECO owns 65.7 acres of undeveloped land at Waena. Most of this Waena land is used for agricultural purposes by the former landowner under an amended license agreement, which is effective on a month-to-month basis, but terminable by either party upon 30 days written notice until the area is required for development by MECO for utility purposes, or until July 31, 2013, whichever occurs first.

MECO’s administrative offices and engineering and distribution departments are located on 9.1 acres of MECO-owned land in Kahului.

 

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MECO also owns and operates smaller distribution systems, generation systems (with an aggregate net capability of 21.9 MW as of December 31, 2011) and fuel storage facilities on the islands of Lanai and Molokai, primarily on land owned by MECO.

 

Other properties.  The utilities own overhead transmission and distribution lines, underground cables, poles (some jointly) and metal high voltage towers. Electric lines are located over or under public and nonpublic properties. Lines are added when needed to serve increased loads and/or for reliability reasons. In some design districts on Oahu, lines must be placed underground. Under Hawaii law, the PUC generally must determine whether new 46 kilovolt (kV), 69 kV or 138 kV lines can be constructed overhead or must be placed underground.

See “HECO and subsidiaries and service areas” above for a discussion of the nonexclusive franchises of HECO and subsidiaries. Most of the leases, easements and licenses for HECO’s, HELCO’s and MECO’s lines have been recorded.

See “Generation statistics” above and “Limited insurance” in HEI’s MD&A for a further discussion of some of the electric utility properties.

 

Bank

 

General.  ASB was granted a federal savings bank charter in January 1987. Prior to that time, ASB had operated since 1925 as the Hawaii division of American Savings & Loan Association of Salt Lake City, Utah. As of December 31, 2011, ASB was one of the largest financial institutions in the State of Hawaii based on total assets of $4.9 billion and deposits of $4.1 billion. In 2011, ASB’s revenues and net income amounted to approximately 8% and 43% of HEI’s consolidated revenues and net income, respectively, compared to approximately 11% and 51% in 2010 and approximately 12% and 26% in 2009, respectively.

At the time of HEI’s acquisition of ASB in 1988, HEI agreed with the OTS’ predecessor regulatory agency that ASB’s regulatory capital would be maintained at a level of at least 6% of ASB’s total liabilities, or at such greater amount as may be required from time to time by regulation. Under the agreement, HEI’s obligation to contribute additional capital to ensure that ASB would have the capital level required by the OTS was limited to a maximum aggregate amount of approximately $65.1 million. As of December 31, 2011, as a result of certain HEI contributions of capital to ASB, HEI’s maximum obligation under the agreement to contribute additional capital has been reduced to approximately $28.3 million. ASB is subject to OCC regulations on dividends and other distributions and ASB must receive a letter of non-objection from the OCC and FRB before it can declare and pay a dividend to HEI.

ASB’s earnings depend primarily on its net interest income—the difference between the interest income earned on earning assets (loans receivable and investment and mortgage-related securities) and the interest expense incurred on costing liabilities (deposit liabilities and other borrowings, including advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of Seattle and securities sold under agreements to repurchase). Other factors affecting ASB’s operating results include its provision for loan losses, fee income, other noninterest income (including gains and losses on sales of loans, securities and notes and other-than-temporary impairments of securities) and noninterest expenses.

For additional information about ASB, see the sections under “Bank” in HEI’s MD&A, HEI’s “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk” and Note 4 to HEI’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

The following table sets forth selected data for ASB (average balances calculated using the average daily balances):

 

Years ended December 31

 

2011

 

2010

 

2009

 

Common equity to assets ratio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Average common equity divided by average total assets

 

10.24

%

10.34

%

9.38

%

Return on assets

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net income for common stock divided by average total assets

 

1.23

 

1.20

 

0.43

 

Return on common equity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net income for common stock divided by average common equity

 

11.99

 

11.62

 

4.54

 

Tangible efficiency ratio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total noninterest expense, less amortization of intangibles, divided by net interest income and noninterest income

 

57

 

56

 

72

 

 

15



 

All of the foregoing ratios and returns for 2009 were adversely affected by losses related to the sale of the private-issue mortgage-related securities portfolio and other-than-temporary impairment charges on ASB’s securities portfolio, and for 2010 and 2011 were positively affected by the reduction in 2009 in ASB’s common equity, earning assets and costing liabilities.

 

Asset/liability management.  See HEI’s “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk.”

 

Consolidated average balance sheet and interest income and interest expense.  See “Bank—Results of operations—Average balance sheet and net interest margin” in HEI’s MD&A.

The following table shows the effect on net interest income of (1) changes in interest rates (change in weighted-average interest rate multiplied by prior year average balance) and (2) changes in volume (change in average balance multiplied by prior period weighted-average interest rate). Any remaining change is allocated to the above two categories on a prorata basis.

 

 (in thousands)

 

2011 vs. 2010

 

2010 vs. 2009

 

 Increase (decrease) due to

 

Rate

 

Volume

 

Total

 

Rate

 

Volume

 

Total

 

 Income from earning assets

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Investment and mortgage-related securities

 

$

(1,817

)

$

1,439

 

$

(378

)

$

(9,847

)

$

(2,184

)

$

(12,031

)

Loans receivable, net

 

(9,552

)

(1,155

)

(10,707

)

(1,700

)

(20,946

)

(22,646

)

 

 

(11,369

)

284

 

(11,085

)

(11,547

)

(23,130

)

(34,677

)

 Expense from costing liabilities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deposit liabilities

 

3,674

 

2,039

 

5,713

 

12,588

 

6,762

 

19,350

 

Other borrowings

 

66

 

101

 

167

 

(1,113

)

4,957

 

3,844

 

 

 

3,740

 

2,140

 

5,880

 

11,475

 

11,719

 

23,194

 

 Net interest income

 

$

(7,629

)

$

2,424

 

$

(5,205

)

$

(72

)

$

(11,411

)

$

(11,483

)

 

See “Bank—Results of operations” in HEI’s MD&A for an explanation of significant changes in earning assets and costing liabilities.

 

Noninterest income.  In addition to net interest income, ASB has various sources of noninterest income, including fee income from credit and debit cards and fee income from deposit liabilities and other financial products and services. See “Bank—Results of operations” in HEI’s MD&A for an explanation of significant changes in noninterest income.

 

Lending activities.

 

GeneralThe following table sets forth the composition of ASB’s loans receivable held for investment:

 

December 31

 

2011

 

2010

 

2009

 

2008

 

2007

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

Balance

 

% of
total

 

Balance

 

% of
total

 

Balance

 

% of
total

 

Balance

 

% of
total

 

Balance

 

% of
total

 

Real estate loans: 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Residential 1-4 family

 

$1,926,774

 

52.2

 

$2,087,813

 

58.9

 

$2,332,763

 

62.9

 

$2,812,177

 

66.5

 

$2,901,420

 

70.1

 

Commercial real estate

 

331,931

 

9.0

 

300,689

 

8.5

 

255,716

 

6.9

 

243,109

 

5.8

 

252,831

 

6.1

 

Home equity line of credit

 

535,481

 

14.5

 

416,453

 

11.7

 

326,896

 

8.8

 

271,780

 

6.4

 

194,549

 

4.7

 

Residential land

 

45,392

 

1.2

 

65,599

 

1.8

 

96,515

 

2.6

 

126,963

 

3.0

 

159,114

 

3.8

 

Commercial construction

 

41,950

 

1.1

 

38,079

 

1.1

 

68,174

 

1.9

 

71,579

 

1.7

 

34,184

 

0.8

 

Residential construction

 

3,327

 

0.1

 

5,602

 

0.2

 

16,705

 

0.5

 

34,768

 

0.8

 

55,867

 

1.4

 

Total real estate loans, net

 

2,884,855

 

78.1

 

2,914,235

 

82.2

 

3,096,769

 

83.6

 

3,560,376

 

84.2

 

3,597,965

 

86.9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commercial loans

 

716,427

 

19.4

 

551,683

 

15.5

 

545,622

 

14.7

 

597,234

 

14.1

 

471,576

 

11.4

 

Consumer loans

 

93,253

 

2.5

 

80,138

 

2.3

 

64,360

 

1.7

 

72,524

 

1.7

 

71,440

 

1.7

 

 

 

3,694,535

 

100.0

 

3,546,056

 

100.0

 

3,706,751

 

100.0

 

4,230,134

 

100.0

 

4,140,981

 

100.0

 

Less: Deferred fees and discounts

 

(13,811

)

 

 

(15,530

)

 

 

(19,494

)

 

 

(24,631

)

 

 

(26,192

)

 

 

 Allowance for loan losses

 

(37,906

)

 

 

(40,646

)

 

 

(41,679

)

 

 

(35,798

)

 

 

(30,211

)

 

 

Total loans, net

 

$3,642,818

 

 

 

$3,489,880

 

 

 

$3,645,578

 

 

 

$4,169,705

 

 

 

$4,084,578

 

 

 

Total loans as a % of assets

 

74.2

%

 

 

72.8

%

 

 

73.8

%

 

 

76.7

%

 

 

59.5

%

 

 

 

1              Includes renegotiated loans.

 

The increase in the loans receivable balance in 2011 was primarily due to growth in commercial markets and home equity lines of credit loans as ASB targeted these portfolios because of their shorter duration and variable rates. Offsetting these loan portfolio increases was a decrease in the residential loan portfolio due to

 

16



 

lower production and ASB’s decision to sell a portion of the residential loan production. The decrease in the loans receivable balance in 2010 and 2009 was primarily due to ASB’s decision to sell substantially all of its residential loan production in 2009 and the first nine months of 2010. The increase in loans receivable in 2008 was primarily due to growth in home equity lines of credit and commercial markets loans.

The following table summarizes ASB’s loans receivable held for investment, including undisbursed commercial real estate construction and development loan funds, based upon contractually scheduled principal payments and expected prepayments allocated to the indicated maturity categories:

 

December 31

 

2011

 

2010

 

 Due

 

In
1 year
or less

 

After 1 year
through
5 years

 

After
5 years

 

Total

 

In
1 year
or less

 

After 1 year
through
5 years

 

After
5 years

 

Total

 

 (in millions)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Residential loans - Fixed

 

$440

 

$965

 

$450

 

$1,855

 

$486

 

$981

 

$540

 

$2,007

 

 Residential loans - Adjustable

 

37

 

32

 

3

 

72

 

37

 

38

 

5

 

80

 

 

 

477

 

997

 

453

 

1,927

 

523

 

1,019

 

545

 

2,087

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Commercial real estate loans-Fixed

 

13

 

54

 

15

 

82

 

9

 

56

 

24

 

89

 

 Commercial real estate loans-Adjustable

 

56

 

113

 

123

 

292

 

46

 

115

 

89

 

250

 

 

 

69

 

167

 

138

 

374

 

55

 

171

 

113

 

339

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Consumer loans – Fixed

 

51

 

62

 

1

 

114

 

52

 

70

 

3

 

125

 

 Consumer loans – Adjustable

 

49

 

85

 

431

 

565

 

44

 

92

 

309

 

445

 

 

 

100

 

147

 

432

 

679

 

96

 

162

 

312

 

570

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Commercial loans – Fixed

 

48

 

116

 

26

 

190

 

33

 

71

 

14

 

118

 

 Commercial loans – Adjustable

 

212

 

268

 

46

 

526

 

207

 

193

 

34

 

434

 

 

 

260

 

384

 

72

 

716

 

240

 

264

 

48

 

552

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Total loans - Fixed

 

552

 

1,197

 

492

 

2,241

 

580

 

1,178

 

581

 

2,339

 

 Total loans - Adjustable

 

354

 

498

 

603

 

1,455

 

334

 

438

 

437

 

1,209

 

 

 

$906

 

$1,695

 

$1,095

 

$3,696

 

$914

 

$1,616

 

$1,018

 

$3,548

 

 

The decrease in fixed rate residential loans was due to repayments in the portfolio and the sale of fixed rate loans in the secondary market.

 

Origination, purchase and sale of loansGenerally, residential and commercial real estate loans originated by ASB are collateralized by real estate located in Hawaii. For additional information, including information concerning the geographic distribution of ASB’s mortgage-related securities portfolio and the geographic concentration of credit risk, see Note 14 to HEI’s Consolidated Financial Statements. The demand for loans is primarily dependent on the Hawaii real estate market, business conditions, interest rates and loan refinancing activity.

 

Residential mortgage lendingASB’s general policy is to require private mortgage insurance when the loan-to-value ratio of the property exceeds 80% of the lower of the appraised value or purchase price at origination. For nonowner-occupied residential properties, the loan-to-value ratio may not exceed 80% of the lower of the appraised value or purchase price at origination.

 

Construction and development lendingASB provides both fixed- and adjustable-rate loans for the construction of one-to-four unit residential and commercial properties. Construction loan projects are typically short term in nature. Construction and development financing generally involves a higher degree of credit risk than long-term financing on improved, occupied real estate. Accordingly, construction and development loans are generally priced higher than loans collateralized by completed structures. ASB’s underwriting, monitoring and disbursement practices with respect to construction and development financing are designed to ensure sufficient funds are available to complete construction projects. See “Loan portfolio risk elements” and “Multifamily residential and commercial real estate lending” below.

 

Multifamily residential and commercial real estate lendingASB provides permanent financing and construction and development financing collateralized by multifamily residential properties (including apartment buildings) and collateralized by commercial and industrial properties (including office buildings, shopping

 

17



 

centers and warehouses) for its own portfolio as well as for participation with other lenders. Commercial real estate lending typically involves long lead times to originate and fund. As a result, production results can vary significantly from period to period.

 

Consumer lendingASB offers a variety of secured and unsecured consumer loans. Loans collateralized by deposits are limited to 90% of the available account balance. ASB offers home equity lines of credit, secured and unsecured VISA cards, checking account overdraft protection and other general purpose consumer loans.

 

Commercial lendingASB provides both secured and unsecured commercial loans to business entities. This lending activity is part of ASB’s strategic transformation to a full-service community bank and is designed to diversify ASB’s asset structure, shorten maturities, improve rate sensitivity of the loan portfolio and attract commercial checking deposits.

 

Loan origination fee and servicing incomeIn addition to interest earned on loans, ASB receives income from servicing loans, for late payments and from other related services. Servicing fees are received on loans originated and subsequently sold by ASB where ASB acts as collection agent on behalf of third-party purchasers.

ASB generally charges the borrower at loan settlement a loan origination fee of 1% of the amount borrowed. See “Loans receivable” in Note 1 to HEI’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

Loan portfolio risk elementsWhen a borrower fails to make a required payment on a loan and does not cure the delinquency promptly, the loan is classified as delinquent. If delinquencies are not cured promptly, ASB normally commences a collection action, including foreclosure proceedings in the case of secured loans. In a foreclosure action, the property collateralizing the delinquent debt is sold at a public auction in which ASB may participate as a bidder to protect its interest. If ASB is the successful bidder, the property is classified as real estate owned until it is sold. As of December 31, 2011, December 31, 2010 and December 31, 2009, ASB had $7.3 million, $4.3 million and $4.0 million, respectively, of real estate acquired in settlement of loans.

In addition to delinquent loans, other significant lending risk elements include: (1) loans which accrue interest and are 90 days or more past due as to principal or interest, (2) loans accounted for on a nonaccrual basis (nonaccrual loans), and (3) loans on which various concessions are made with respect to interest rate, maturity, or other terms due to the inability of the borrower to service the obligation under the original terms of the agreement (troubled debt restructured loans). ASB loans that were 90 days or more past due on which interest was being accrued as of December 31, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2007 were immaterial or nil. The following table sets forth certain information with respect to nonaccrual and troubled debt restructured loans:

 

18



 

 December 31

 

2011

 

2010

 

2009

 

2008

 

2007

 

 (dollars in thousands)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Nonaccrual loans—

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Real estate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Residential 1-4 family

 

$28,298

 

$36,420

 

$31,848

 

$ 7,468

 

$1,027

 

Commercial real estate

 

3,436

 

 

344

 

 

 

Home equity line of credit

 

2,258

 

1,659

 

2,755

 

759

 

464

 

Residential land

 

14,535

 

15,479

 

25,164

 

7,652

 

89

 

Residential construction

 

 

 

326

 

326

 

 

Total real estate loans

 

48,527

 

53,558

 

60,437

 

16,205

 

1,580

 

 Consumer loans

 

281

 

341

 

715

 

523

 

342

 

 Commercial loans

 

17,946

 

4,956

 

4,171

 

2,766

 

1,273

 

 Total nonaccrual loans

 

$66,754

 

$58,855

 

$65,323

 

$19,494

 

$3,195

 

 Nonaccrual loans to end of period loans

 

1.8%

 

1.7%

 

1.8%

 

0.5%

 

0.1%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Troubled debt restructured loans not included above—

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Real estate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Residential 1-4 family

 

$  5,029

 

$  5,150

 

$  1,986

 

$1,913

 

$2,536

 

Commercial real estate

 

 

1,963

 

513

 

 

 

Residential land

 

24,828

 

27,689

 

15,665

 

2,125

 

 

Total real estate loans

 

29,857

 

34,802

 

18,164

 

4,038

 

2,536

 

 Commercial loans

 

15,386

 

4,035

 

2,904

 

4,612

 

571

 

 Total troubled debt restructured loans

 

$45,243

 

$38,837

 

$21,068

 

$8,650

 

$3,107

 

 Nonaccrual and troubled debt restructured loans to end of period loans

 

3.1%

 

2.8%

 

2.3%

 

0.7%

 

0.2%

 

 

ASB realized $6.3 million, $3.6 million and $2.0 million of interest income on nonaccrual and troubled debt restructured loans in 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. If these loans would have earned interest in accordance with their original contractual terms ASB would have realized $9.9 million, $3.8 million and $2.9 million in 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

In 2011, nonaccrual loans increased by $7.9 million due to certain commercial loans that were current as to principal and interest payments but were classified and placed on nonaccrual status. The increase in troubled debt restructured loans was due to two commercial loans that were renegotiated. In 2010, nonaccrual loans decreased by $6.5 million due to a decrease in residential land loans that were 90+ days delinquent and the renegotiation of certain residential land loans that had been on nonaccrual status. In 2009, nonaccrual loans increased by $45.8 million primarily due to an increase in residential 1-4 family and residential land loans 90+ days delinquent. In 2008, nonaccrual loans increased by $16.3 million due to higher residential loan delinquencies and the reclassification of certain commercial loans due to their weakening credit quality. In 2007, nonaccrual loans increased by $0.8 million when compared to 2006 due to higher delinquencies in the residential and consumer loan portfolios.

 

19



 

Allowance for loan lossesSee “Allowance for loan losses” in Note 1 to HEI’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

The following table presents the changes in the allowance for loan losses:

 

 (dollars in thousands)

 

2011

 

2010

 

2009

 

2008

 

2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Allowance for loan losses, January 1

 

$40,646

 

$41,679

 

$35,798

 

$30,211

 

$31,228

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Provision for loan losses

 

15,009

 

20,894

 

32,000

 

10,334

 

5,700

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Charge-offs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Residential 1-4 family

 

5,528

 

6,142

 

3,129

 

51

 

 

 Home equity line of credit

 

1,439

 

2,517

 

2,331

 

21

 

89

 

 Residential land

 

4,071

 

6,487

 

4,217

 

282

 

 

 Total real estate loans

 

11,038

 

15,146

 

9,677

 

354

 

89

 

 Commercial loans

 

5,335

 

6,261

 

14,853

 

3,447

 

6,301

 

 Consumer loans

 

3,117

 

3,408

 

2,436

 

1,825

 

1,334

 

 Total charge-offs

 

19,490

 

24,815

 

26,966

 

5,626

 

7,724

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Recoveries

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Residential 1-4 family

 

110

 

744

 

151

 

46

 

68

 

 Home equity line of credit

 

25

 

63

 

 

 

4

 

 Residential land

 

170

 

63

 

 

 

 

 Total real estate loans

 

305

 

870

 

151

 

46

 

72

 

 Commercial loans

 

869

 

1,537

 

404

 

548

 

623

 

 Consumer loans

 

567

 

481

 

292

 

285

 

312

 

 Total recoveries

 

1,741

 

2,888

 

847

 

879

 

1,007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Allowance for loan losses, December 31

 

$37,906

 

$40,646

 

$41,679

 

$35,798

 

$30,211

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Ratio of allowance for loan losses, December 31, to end of period loans

 

1.03

%

1.15

%

1.12

%

0.84

%

0.73

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Ratio of provision for loan losses during the year to average loans outstanding

 

0.42

%

0.58

%

0.81

%

0.25

%

0.15

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Ratio of net charge-offs during the year to average loans outstanding

 

0.49

%

0.61

%

0.66

%

0.11

%

0.17

%

 

The following table sets forth the allocation of ASB’s allowance for loan losses and the percentage of loans in each category to total loans:

 

December 31

 

2011

 

2010

 

2009

 

2008

 

2007

 

 (dollars in thousands)

 

Balance

 

% of
total

 

Balance

 

% of
total

 

Balance

 

% of
total

 

Balance

 

% of
total

 

Balance

 

% of
total

 

 Real estate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Residential 1-4 family

 

$6,500

 

52.2

 

$6,497

 

58.9

 

$5,522

 

62.5

 

$4,024

 

66.2

 

$3,906

 

69.8

 

Commercial real estate

 

1,688

 

9.0

 

1,474

 

8.5

 

861

 

6.9

 

2,229

 

5.7

 

2,760

 

6.1

 

Home equity line of credit

 

4,354

 

14.5

 

4,269

 

11.7

 

4,679

 

8.8

 

548

 

6.4

 

412

 

4.7

 

Residential land

 

3,795

 

1.2

 

6,411

 

1.8

 

4,252

 

2.6

 

1,953

 

3.0

 

256

 

3.9

 

Commercial construction

 

1,888

 

1.1

 

1,714

 

1.1

 

3,068

 

1.8

 

1,748

 

1.7

 

1,483

 

0.8

 

Residential construction

 

4

 

0.1

 

7

 

0.2

 

19

 

0.5

 

88

 

0.8

 

68

 

1.3

 

 Total real estate loans, net

 

18,229

 

78.1

 

20,372

 

82.2

 

18,401

 

83.1

 

10,590

 

83.8

 

8,885

 

86.6

 

 Commercial loans

 

14,867

 

19.4

 

16,015

 

15.5

 

19,498

 

14.6

 

22,294

 

14.0

 

18,820

 

11.4

 

 Consumer loans

 

3,806

 

2.5

 

3,325

 

2.3

 

2,590

 

2.3

 

2,190

 

2.2

 

2,167

 

2.0

 

 

 

36,902

 

100.0

 

39,712

 

100.0

 

40,489

 

100.0

 

35,074

 

100.0

 

29,872

 

100.0

 

 Unallocated

 

1,004

 

 

 

934

 

 

 

1,190

 

 

 

724

 

 

 

339

 

 

 

 Total allowance for loan losses

 

$37,906

 

 

 

$40,646

 

 

 

$41,679

 

 

 

$35,798

 

 

 

$30,211

 

 

 

 

In 2011, ASB’s allowance for loan losses decreased by $2.7 million from 2010 due to a lower historical loss ratio for the commercial markets portfolio and the decline of the residential land portfolio, which was a higher risk and had a higher historical loss ratio assigned to it. Partly offsetting these decreases was an

 

20


 


 

increase in the allowance for loan losses for the commercial real estate portfolios due to a higher average loan balance. The levels of delinquencies and losses in 2011 declined from a year ago. ASB’s 2011 provision for loan losses was $15.0 million, or a decrease of $5.9 million from the prior year’s provision for loan losses. Although the economy had gradually recovered during the year and businesses have stabilized, the housing market remained stagnant. The outlook for the Hawaii economy is a continued gradual recovery through 2012.

In 2010, ASB’s allowance for loan losses decreased by $1.0 million from 2009 due to lower residential, commercial and commercial construction average loan balances, partly offset by increases in the historical loss ratios for residential first mortgage and land loans. Although ASB’s loan quality improved in 2010, there were still signs of financial stress in the Hawaii and U.S. mainland markets. The slowdown in the economy, both nationally and locally, resulted in ASB experiencing higher levels of loan delinquencies and losses, which were concentrated in the vacant land portfolio and on the neighbor islands. ASB’s 2010 provision for loan losses was $20.9 million. While a mild recovery began in 2010 as the global economic recovery began to take hold, many challenges remained.

In 2009, ASB’s allowance for loan losses increased by $5.9 million from 2008 as a result of higher residential 1-4 family, residential land and home equity lines of credit delinquencies and increases in the historical loss ratios for these loan types. ASB’s loan quality weakened in 2009, although not to the same level of decline in loan quality seen in many mainland U.S. markets. The slowdown in the economy, both nationally and locally, had caused increased levels of financial stress on ASB’s customers, resulting in higher levels of loan delinquencies and losses. ASB’s 2009 provision for loan losses was $32 million, which included a provision for loan loss on a commercial loan that was subsequently sold.

 

Investment activities.  Currently, ASB’s investment portfolio consists of mortgage-related securities, stock of the FHLB of Seattle, federal agency obligations and municipal bonds. ASB owns mortgage-related securities issued by the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC) and Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA) and federal agency obligations issued by the FNMA and FHLMC. The weighted-average yield on investments during 2011, 2010 and 2009 was 2.01%, 2.18% and 3.67%, respectively. ASB did not maintain a portfolio of securities held for trading during 2010, 2009 and 2008.

As of December 31 in each of 2011, 2010 and 2009, ASB’s investment in stock of the FHLB of Seattle amounted to $97.8 million. The amount that ASB is required to invest in FHLB of Seattle stock is determined by regulatory requirements and ASB’s investment is in excess of that requirement. See “FHLB of Seattle stock” in HEI’s MD&A. Also, see “Regulation—Federal Home Loan Bank System” below.

With the sale of the private-issue mortgage-related securities in 2009, ASB does not have any exposure to securities backed by subprime mortgages. See “Investment and mortgage-related securities” in Note 4 to HEI’s Consolidated Financial Statements for a discussion of other-than-temporarily impaired securities.

The following table summarizes ASB’s investment portfolio (excluding stock of the FHLB of Seattle, which has no contractual maturity), as of December 31, 2011, based upon contractually scheduled principal payments and expected prepayments allocated to the indicated maturity categories:

 

 Due

 

In 1 year
or less

 

After 1 year
through 5 years

 

After 5 years
through 10 years

 

After
10 years

 

Total

 

 (dollars in millions)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Federal agency obligations

 

$  80   

 

$128     

 

$10     

 

$  –

 

$218

 

 Mortgage-related securities - FNMA, FHLMC and GNMA

 

108   

 

180     

 

35     

 

6

 

329

 

 Municipal bonds

 

–   

 

9     

 

42     

 

 

51

 

 

 

$188   

 

$317     

 

$87     

 

$  6

 

$598

 

 

 Weighted average yield

 

2.23%

 

2.13%  

 

2.70%  

 

2.35%

 

 

 

 

21



 

Deposits and other sources of funds.

 

GeneralDeposits traditionally have been the principal source of ASB’s funds for use in lending, meeting liquidity requirements and making investments. ASB also derives funds from the receipt of interest and principal on outstanding loans receivable and mortgage-related securities, borrowings from the FHLB of Seattle, securities sold under agreements to repurchase and other sources. ASB borrows on a short-term basis to compensate for seasonal or other reductions in deposit flows. ASB also may borrow on a longer-term basis to support expanded lending or investment activities. Advances from the FHLB and securities sold under agreements to repurchase continue to be a source of funds, but they are a higher cost source than deposits.

 

DepositsASB’s deposits are obtained primarily from residents of Hawaii. Net deposit inflow or outflow, measured as the year-over-year difference in year-end deposits, was an inflow of $95 million in 2011 compared to outflows of $83 million in 2010 and $121 million in 2009.

The following table illustrates the distribution of ASB’s average deposits and average daily rates by type of deposit. Average balances have been calculated using the average daily balances.

 

Years ended December 31

2011

 

2010

 

2009

 

 (dollars in thousands)

 

Average
balance

 

% of
total
deposits

 

Weighted
average
rate %

 

Average
balance

 

% of
total
deposits

 

Weighted
average
rate %

 

Average
balance

 

% of
total
deposits

 

Weighted
average
rate %

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Savings

 

$1,672,033 

 

41.5%

 

0.11%

 

$1,608,650 

 

40.2%

 

0