Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.

Second-quarter 2026 net income was $123.2 million, or $0.71 per share. Core net income was $22.5 million, or $0.13 per share, versus $35.4 million, or $0.20 per share in Q2 2025. Utility core net income was $32.6 million versus $42.5 million a year ago, while holding company core net loss was $10.1 million versus $7.1 million. The quarter included a $153.9 million reduction in the remaining Maui wildfire settlement liability, $136.2 million pre-tax net of accretion recognized this quarter, and $8.5 million of insurance recoveries. Consolidated liquidity was approximately $1.3 billion, with about $52 million of unrestricted cash at the holding company and $186 million at the utility. Looking ahead, HEI expects to finance the approved $350 million of WMP CapEx through securitization, is seeking an interim rate rebasing decision by December 18, 2026, and expects a final rebasing order in mid-to-late April 2027. The proposed $170 million base-rate increase is phased in over two years, with $125 million targeted for 2027.

Scott Seu framed 2026 as a transition year and focused on three priorities: wildfire risk reduction, rate rebasing, and competitive procurement for future generation. He said the company has made significant progress on system safety and believes securitization is the lowest-cost way to recover WMP spending for customers. His tone was steady and regulatory-focused, emphasizing that HEI wants to serve customers through a framework that balances affordability, reliability, resilience, and clean-energy goals.

Paul Ito led with the quarter’s reported numbers and explained that the large year-over-year earnings swing was driven by the non-cash remeasurement of the wildfire settlement liability, which reduced the liability from $1.44 billion to $1.3 billion. He said consolidated liquidity was about $1.3 billion, with additional available capacity under the company’s ATM, credit facilities, AR facility, and revolver, and noted that bad debt expense has not materially worsened despite higher fuel prices. He also highlighted credit progress, citing S&P’s July upgrade of both HEI and Hawaiian Electric to double B-minus and Moody’s prior one-notch upgrade in April, while saying the company intends to keep settlement financing aligned with investment-grade credit metrics. On costs, he pointed to higher O&M from storm response, vegetation management, maintenance, cyber, labor and benefits, and said the company expects the maximum FCRS penalty and lower PIM/SSM rewards in 2026.

Analysts focused on how the approved $350 million WMP recovery would affect rate base, and Paul Ito said those costs would not be in rate base if securitization is approved. Michael Lonegan also asked about timing for the next rate case, and Joe Viola said HEI expects to rebase rates again in roughly the 2032 timeframe as part of the next five-year multi-year plan. On the O&M outlook, management broke the pressure into episodic storm costs, conscious spending ahead of recovery, and structurally higher insurance costs, saying it is pursuing rate rebasing, Phase Six changes to the PBR framework, and internal efficiency steps to offset the increase. Lonegan also asked about JERA’s proposal for a regulated generation utility; Scott Seu said any outcome must be in the best interests of Hawaii customers and that HEI will participate in whatever PUC process is initiated.