Skip to content
KStart free
AI InfrastructureDefenseQuantumAll studies →

HE US Equity

Hawaiian Electric Industries IncUtilities · Electric Services · CIK 354707 · FY ends Dec 31
$11.50
-0.11 (-0.95%)
USD · as of 2026-08-21 · marketstack

HE · 10-K · period ended 2020-12-31

← all HE documents
filed 2021-02-26 · EDGAR original ↗

Our rendering of the filing — original pagination and typography are not reproduced, and tables are reduced to their short label cells (the figures live on FA). Nothing is summarized: every line below is the filing's own text.

blocks 1549 of 2,841664k characters rendered

he-20201231

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D. C. 20549

FORM 10-K

☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020

OR

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

THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Exact Name of Registrant Commission I.R.S. Employer

as Specified in Its Charter File Number Identification No.

State of Hawaii

(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)

1001 Bishop Street, Suite 2900, Honolulu, Hawaii96813 - Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (HEI)

1001 Bishop Street, Suite 2500, Honolulu, Hawaii96813 - Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. (Hawaiian Electric)

(Address of principal executive offices and zip code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:

(808) 543-5662 - HEI

(808) 543-7771 - Hawaiian Electric

Not applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)

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

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 the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (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.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted 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 such files).

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.: Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc.:

Non-accelerated filer ☐ Non-accelerated filer ☒

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.

Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. ☒ Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. ☐

Indicateby check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Hawaiian Electric’s Exhibit 99.1, consisting of:

Hawaiian Electric’s Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance—Part III

Hawaiian Electric’s Executive Compensation—Part III

Hawaiian Electric’s Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters—

Part III

Hawaiian Electric’s Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence—Part III

Hawaiian Electric’s Principal Accounting Fees and Services—Part III

Selected sections of Proxy Statement of HEI for the 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be filed-Part III

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Glossary of Terms ii

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements v

PART I

Item 1. Business 1

Item 1A. Risk Factors 18

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 30

Item 2. Properties 30

Item 3. Legal Proceedings 30

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 30

Information About Our Executive Officers (HEI) 31

PART II

Item 6. Selected Financial Data 33

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk 74

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 77

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 178

Item 9B. Other Information 179

PART III

Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 179

Item 11. Executive Compensation 180

Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services 182

PART IV

Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules 182

i

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Defined below are certain terms used in this report:

Terms Definitions

ABO Accumulated benefit obligation

AES Hawaii AES Hawaii, Inc.

AFS Available-for-sale

AFUDC Allowance for funds used during construction

AOCI Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)

APBO Accumulated postretirement benefit obligation

ARO Asset retirement obligations

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

ASC Accounting Standards Codification

ASU Accounting Standards Update

Btu British thermal unit

CBRE Community-based renewable energy

CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act

D&O Decision and order from the PUC

DBF State of Hawaii Department of Budget and Finance

DER Distributed energy resources

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

DOH State of Hawaii Department of Health

DRIP HEI Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan

ECAC Energy cost adjustment clause

ECRC Energy cost recovery clause

EIP 2010 Executive Incentive Plan, as amended

EPA Environmental Protection Agency - federal

EPS Earnings per share

ERISA Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended

ERL Environmental Response Law of the State of Hawaii

ERP/EAM Enterprise Resource Planning/Enterprise Asset Management

ESG Environmental, Social & Governance

Exchange Act Securities Exchange Act of 1934

FASB Financial Accounting Standards Board

FDIC Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

federal U.S. Government

FERC Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

FHLB Federal Home Loan Bank

ii

GLOSSARY OF TERMS (continued)

Terms Definitions

FHLMC Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation

FICO Fair Isaac Corporation

Fitch Fitch Ratings, Inc.

FNMA Federal National Mortgage Association

FRB Federal Reserve Board

GAAP Accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America

GHG Greenhouse gas

GNMA Government National Mortgage Association

Gramm Act Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999

Hamakua Energy Hamakua Energy, LLC, an indirect subsidiary of HEI

HEIRSP Hawaiian Electric Industries Retirement Savings Plan

HELOC Home equity line of credit

HSFO High sulfur fuel oil

HTM Held-to-maturity

IPP Independent power producer

Ka’ie’ie Waho Ka’ie’ie Waho Company, LLC, a subsidiary of Pacific Current

Kalaeloa Kalaeloa Partners, L.P.

kW Kilowatt/s (as applicable)

kWh Kilowatthour/s (as applicable)

LSFO Low sulfur fuel oil

LTIP Long-term incentive plan

Mauo Mauo, LLC, a subsidiary of Pacific Current

MBtu Million British thermal unit

Moody’s Moody’s Investors Service’s

MPIR Major Project Interim Recovery

MSR Mortgage servicing right

MW Megawatt/s (as applicable)

MWh Megawatthour/s (as applicable)

NA Not applicable

NEE NextEra Energy, Inc.

NII Net interest income

NPBC Net periodic benefits costs

iii

GLOSSARY OF TERMS (continued)

Terms Definitions

NPPC Net periodic pension costs

O&M Other operation and maintenance

OCC Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

OPEB Postretirement benefits other than pensions

OTS Office of Thrift Supervision, Department of Treasury

PBO Projected benefit obligation

PCB Polychlorinated biphenyls

PGV Puna Geothermal Venture

PIMs Performance incentive mechanisms

PPA Power purchase agreement

PPAC Purchased power adjustment clause

PUC Public Utilities Commission of the State of Hawaii

PURPA Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978

PV Photovoltaic

QF Qualifying Facility under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978

QTL Qualified Thrift Lender

RAM Rate adjustment mechanism

RBA Revenue balancing account

REIP Renewable Energy Infrastructure Program

RFP Request for proposals

ROACE Return on average common equity

RORB Return on rate base

RPS Renewable portfolio standards

S&P Standard & Poor’s

SEC Securities and Exchange Commission

SLHCs Savings & Loan Holding Companies

SPRBs Special Purpose Revenue Bonds

state State of Hawaii

TDR Troubled debt restructuring

ULSD Ultra low sulfur diesel

VIE Variable interest entity

iv

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This report and other presentations made by Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (HEI) and Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. (Hawaiian Electric) 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 “will,” “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, political and market factors, among other things. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.

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 and political 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 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 future Federal government shutdowns, including the impact to our customers to pay their electric bills and/or bank loans and the impact on the state of Hawaii economy; the implications and potential impacts of U.S. and foreign capital and credit market conditions and federal, state and international responses to those conditions; the potential impacts of global and local developments (including global economic conditions and uncertainties, unrest, terrorist acts, wars, conflicts, political protests, deadly virus epidemic or other crisis); the effects of changes that have or may occur in U.S. policy, such as with respect to immigration and trade; and pandemics;

•the extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the duration, spread, severity and any recurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the duration and scope of related government orders and restrictions, the impact on our employees, customers and suppliers, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the overall demand for the Company’s goods and services, all of which could be affected by the pace of distribution, administration, and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as the proportion of the population vaccinated;

•citizen activism, including civil unrest, especially in times of severe economic depression and social divisiveness, which could negatively impact customers and employees, impair the ability of the Company and the Utilities to operate and maintain its facilities in an effective and safe manner, and citizen activism and stakeholder activism could delay the construction, increase project costs or preclude the completion, of third-party or Utility projects that are required to meet electricity demand, reliability objectives and renewable portfolio standards (RPS) goals;

•the effects of future actions or inaction of the U.S. government or related agencies, including those related to the U.S. debt ceiling or budget funding, monetary policy, trade policy and tariffs, energy and environmental policy, and other policy and regulatory changes advanced or proposed by President Biden and his administration;

•weather, natural disasters (e.g., hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, lightning strikes, lava flows and the increasing effects of climate change, such as more severe storms, flooding, droughts, heat waves, and rising sea levels) and wildfires, including their impact on the Company’s and Utilities’ operations and the economy;

•the timing, speed and extent of changes in interest rates and the shape of the yield curve, which could result in lower portfolio yields and net interest margin;

•the ability of the Company and the Utilities to access the credit and capital markets (e.g., to obtain commercial paper and other short-term and long-term debt financing, including lines of credit, and, in the case of HEI, to issue 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 the Company’s pension and other retirement plan assets and ASB’s securities available for sale, and the risks inherent in changes in the value of the Company’s pension liabilities, including changes driven by interest rates;

•changes in laws, regulations (including tax regulations), market conditions, interest rates 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, as amended by the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act;

•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 potential delay by the Public Utilities Commission of the State of Hawaii (PUC) in considering (and potential disapproval of actual or proposed) renewable energy proposals and related costs; reliance by the Utilities on outside parties such as the state, independent power producers (IPPs) and developers; and uncertainties surrounding technologies, solar power, wind power, biofuels, environmental assessments required to meet RPS goals and the impacts of implementation of the renewable energy proposals on future costs of electricity;

•the ability of the Utilities to develop, implement and recover the costs of implementing the Utilities’ action plans included in their updated Power Supply Improvement Plans, Demand Response Portfolio Plan, Distributed Generation Interconnection Plan, Grid Modernization Plans, and business model changes, which have been and are continuing to be developed and updated in response to the orders issued by the PUC, the PUC’s April 2014 statement of its inclinations on the future of Hawaii’s electric utilities and the vision, business strategies and regulatory policy changes required to align the Utilities’ business model with customer interests and the state’s public policy goals, and subsequent orders of the PUC;

•capacity and supply constraints or difficulties, especially if generating units (utility-owned or IPP-owned) fail or measures such as demand-side management, distributed generation, 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;

•fuel oil price changes, delivery of adequate fuel by suppliers and the continued availability to the electric utilities of their energy cost recovery clauses (ECRCs);

v

•the continued availability to the electric utilities or modifications of other cost recovery mechanisms, including the purchased power adjustment clauses (PPACs), rate adjustment mechanisms (RAMs) and pension and postretirement benefits other than pensions (OPEB) tracking mechanisms, and the continued decoupling of revenues from sales to mitigate the effects of declining kilowatthour sales;

•the ability of the Utilities to recover increasing costs and earn a reasonable return on capital investments not covered by RAMs;

•the ability of the Utilities to achieve performance incentive goals currently in place;

•the impact from the PUC’s implementation of performance-based ratemaking for the Utilities pursuant to Act 005, Session Laws 2018, including the potential addition of new performance incentive mechanisms (PIMs), third-party proposals adopted by the PUC in its implementation of performance-based regulation (PBR), and the implications of not achieving performance incentive goals;

•the impact of fuel price levels and volatility on customer satisfaction and political and regulatory support for the Utilities;

•the risks associated with increasing reliance on renewable energy, 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 growing risk that energy production from renewable generating resources may be curtailed and the interconnection of additional resources will be constrained as more generating resources are added to the Utilities’ electric systems and as customers reduce their energy usage;

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

•the potential that, as IPP contracts near the end of their terms, there may be less economic incentive for the IPPs to make investments in their units to ensure the availability of their units;

•the ability of the Utilities to negotiate, periodically, favorable agreements for significant resources such as fuel supply contracts and collective bargaining agreements and avoid or mitigate labor disputes and work stoppages;

•new technological developments that could affect the operations and prospects of the Utilities and ASB or their competitors such as the commercial development of energy storage and microgrids and banking through alternative channels;

•cybersecurity risks and the potential for cyber incidents, including potential incidents at HEI, its third-party vendors, and its subsidiaries (including at ASB branches and electric utility plants) and incidents at data processing centers used, to the extent not prevented by intrusion detection and prevention systems, anti-virus software, firewalls and other general IT controls;

•failure to achieve cost savings consistent with the minimum $246 million in Enterprise Resource Planning/Enterprise Asset Management (ERP/EAM) project-related benefits (including $150 million in operation and maintenance (O&M) benefits) to be delivered to customers over its 12-year estimated useful life and $25 million of annual cost reductions by the end of 2022 pursuant to a commitment made as a result of the management audit of Hawaiian Electric in its 2020 test year rate case;

•federal, state, county and international governmental and regulatory actions, such as existing, new and changes in laws, rules and regulations applicable to HEI, the Utilities and ASB (including changes in taxation and tax rates, increases in capital requirements, regulatory policy changes, environmental laws and regulations (including resulting compliance costs and risks of fines and penalties and/or liabilities), the regulation of greenhouse gas 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);

•developments in laws, regulations and policies governing protections for historic, archaeological and cultural sites, and plant and animal species and habitats, as well as developments in the implementation and enforcement of such laws, regulations and policies;

•discovery of conditions that may be attributable to historical chemical releases, including any necessary investigation and remediation, and any associated enforcement, litigation or regulatory oversight;

•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, restrictions and penalties that may arise, such as with respect to environmental conditions or RPS);

•potential enforcement actions by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), 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);

•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 and its subsidiaries, including the adoption of new U.S. accounting standards, the potential discontinuance of regulatory accounting related to PBR or other regulatory changes, the effects of potentially required consolidation of variable interest entities (VIEs), or required finance lease or on-balance-sheet operating lease accounting for PPAs with IPPs;

•downgrades by securities rating agencies in their ratings of the securities of HEI and Hawaiian Electric and their impact on 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 and/or mix, which may increase or decrease the required level of provision for credit losses, allowance for credit losses (ACL) and charge-offs;

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

•unanticipated changes from the expected discontinuance of LIBOR and the transition to an alternative reference rate, which may include adverse impacts to the Company’s cost of capital, loan portfolio and interest income on loans;

•the final outcome of tax positions taken by HEI and its 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 the risks associated with the operation of transmission and distribution assets and power generation facilities, including public and employee safety issues, and assets causing or contributing to wildfires;

vi

•the ability of the Company’s non-regulated subsidiary, Pacific Current, LLC (Pacific Current), to achieve its performance and growth objectives, which in turn could affect its ability to service its non-recourse debt;

•the Company’s reliance on third parties and the risk of their non-performance, which has increased due to the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic; 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 Hawaiian Electric 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, Hawaiian Electric, ASB, Pacific Current and their subsidiaries undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether written or oral and whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

vii

PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

HEI Consolidated

HEI and subsidiaries and lines of business. HEI is a holding company with its subsidiaries principally engaged in electric utility, banking, and renewable/sustainable infrastructure investment businesses operating in the State of Hawaii. As a holding company with no significant operations of its own, HEI’s sources of funds are dividends or other distributions from its operating subsidiaries, borrowings, and sales of equity. The rights of HEI and its creditors and shareholders to participate in any distribution of the assets of any of HEI’s 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 (see Note 14 of the Consolidated Financial Statements). HEI is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii and has three reportable segments—Electric utility, Bank, and Other.

Electric Utility. Hawaiian Electric and its operating utility subsidiaries, Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc. (Hawaii Electric Light) and Maui Electric Company, Limited (Maui Electric), are regulated electric public utilities that provide essential electric service to approximately 95% of Hawaii’s population through the operation of five separate grids that serve communities on the islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Lanai and Molokai. See also “Electric utility” section below.

Bank. ASB is one of the largest financial institutions in the State of Hawaii (based on total assets), with assets totaling approximately $8.4 billion as of December 31, 2020. ASB provides a wide array of banking and other financial services to Hawaii consumers and businesses. See also “Bank” section below.

Other. The “Other” segment is composed of HEI’s corporate-level operating, general and administrative expenses and the results of Pacific Current, LLC (Pacific Current). Pacific Current was formed in September 2017 to focus on investing in non-regulated clean energy and sustainable infrastructure in the State of Hawaii to help reach the state’s sustainability goals. See also “Electric utility—Hawaii Electric Light firm capacity PPAs” section below and Note 2 of the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on Pacific Current activities. The “Other” segment also includes ASB Hawaii, Inc. (ASB Hawaii) (a holding company), which owns ASB, and The Old Oahu Tug Service, Inc. (TOOTS), which is inactive.

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

The Company’s website address is www.hei.com, where annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and all amendments to those reports (last 10 years) are made available free of charge in the Investor Relations section as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC (and available at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov). 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 Hawaiian Electric intend to continue to use HEI’s website as a means of disclosing additional information. Accordingly, investors should routinely monitor such portions of HEI’s website, in addition to following HEI’s, Hawaiian Electric’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, and the Company has no control over its accuracy or completeness.

Regulation. HEI and Hawaiian Electric are each holding companies within the meaning of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 2005 and implementing regulations, which 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 Hawaiian Electric 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 PUC approval of any change in control of HEI. The PUC Agreement also 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 also Note 14 of the Consolidated Financial Statements and “Electric utility—Regulation” below.

HEI and ASB Hawaii are subject to Federal Reserve Board (FRB) regulation, 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 ASB Hawaii, 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

1

reasonable cause to believe that any activity of HEI or ASB Hawaii constitutes a serious risk to the financial safety, soundness or stability of ASB, the OCC is authorized to impose certain restrictions on HEI, ASB Hawaii 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 ASB Hawaii, and their subsidiaries or affiliates; and (iii) any activities of ASB that might expose ASB to the liabilities of HEI and/or ASB Hawaii and their other affiliates. See also Note 14 of the Consolidated Financial Statements.

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 (Gramm Act) permitted banks, insurance companies and investment firms to compete directly against each other, thereby allowing “one-stop shopping” for an array of financial services. Although the Gramm Act further restricted the creation of so-called “unitary savings and loan holding companies” (i.e., companies such as HEI whose subsidiaries include one or more savings associations and one or more nonfinancial subsidiaries), the unitary savings and loan holding company relationship among HEI, ASB Hawaii and ASB is “grandfathered” under the Gramm Act so that HEI and its subsidiaries will be able to continue to engage in their current activities so long as ASB maintains its qualified thrift lender (QTL) status test discussed under “Bank—Regulation—Qualified thrift lender test.” ASB met the QTL test at all times during 2020; however, the failure of ASB to satisfy the QTL test in the future could result in a need for HEI to divest ASB. Under the Gramm Act, any proposed sale of ASB would have to satisfy applicable statutory and regulatory requirements and potential acquirers of ASB would most likely be limited to companies that are already qualified as, or capable of qualifying as, either a traditional savings and loan association holding company or a bank holding company, or as one of the authorized financial holding companies permitted under the Gramm Act.

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 and further restricting proxy voting by brokers in the absence of instructions. See “Bank—Legislation and regulation” in HEI’s MD&A for a discussion of effects of the Dodd-Frank Act on HEI and ASB.

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, and Note 1 of the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Human Capital Resources.

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

HEI (includes Pacific Current) 49 50 46

The employees of HEI and its direct and indirect subsidiaries, other than the electric utilities, are not covered by any collective bargaining agreement. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1260 represents roughly half of the Utilities’ workforce covered by a collective bargaining agreement that expires on October 31, 2021.

Diversity & inclusion.The diversity of the Company’s workforce, which includes diversity of people, backgrounds, experiences, thoughts and perspectives, gives the Company an advantage that helps guide the Company’s decision-making and its ability to meet its customers’ and our community’s needs.Additionally, because the Company’s businesses operate exclusively in Hawaii, which is one of the most racially diverse states in the U.S., the Company believes it is important that its workforce reflects this diversity.

2

Diversity representation

HEI Hawaiian Electric ASB

Female Racially diverse1 Female Racially diverse1 Female Racially diverse1

1 Racially diverse defined as all races/ethnicities that are not 'White'

2 Executives includes EE0-1 category 1.1-Executive/Sr. Level Officials

3 Leaders includes EE0-1 category 1.2-First/Mid-Level Officials

4 All Workforce includes EE0-1 categories 1.1-Executive/Sr. Level Officials, 1.2-First/ Mid-Level Officials, 2-Professionals, 3-Technicians, 4-Sales Workers, 5-Administrative Support Workers, 6-Craft Workers, 7-Operatives, 8-Laborers and Helpers, 9-Service Workers

Racial composition Diversity-All workforce

Hawaii1 HEI Hawaiian Electric ASB

Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander 9.9 % 2.3 % 10.7 % 15.4 %

American Indian or Alaska Native 0.2 % 2.3 % 0.3 % 0.4 %

1 Source: 2019 U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey-Data Profile

2 Includes some other races

Employee development & training.In order to meet the changing demands of the industries that the Company serves, it is crucial for the Company’s workforce to be highly skilled in their areas of focus and to continue to meet the needs of the Company’s strategic plans as the industries in which the Company operates evolve. As such, the Company prioritizes specific skill enhancement training as well as, industry and leadership development programs.

Hawaiian Electric. Hawaiian Electric offers Hawaiian Electric and HEI employees skills and professional training programs including leadership development courses, employee development courses, technical training, apprenticeship programs, operational, environmental compliance, and required safety training. Hawaiian Electric also offers tailored leadership development programs, including supervisor training to transition new supervisors to critical operational, administrative, and leadership roles as well as leadership and employee assessments geared to improve productivity and effectiveness in the workplace. Leadership metrics are included in executive and management incentive plans. Learning and development initiatives are integrated with annual performance evaluations to reinforce development as integral parts of individual performance goals. Annual succession planning ensures the identification and development of successors, high potentials, and nurtures a leadership pipeline.

ASB. ASB invests in continuous training and development of its employees. Curriculum includes technical banker training programs that cover all aspects of banking laws, banking operations, new product and service offerings, legal and regulatory compliance and company procedures and ethics. The bank delivers company-wide financial education, empowering its employees to make wise personal decisions to help meet their financial goals and provide valuable customer guidance. ASB offers opportunities for all employees to grow and build their careers, through a multitude of soft skills training and leadership programs, including Leadership Forums, Emotional Intelligence, Change Resilience, The Gift of Feedback, and Respect in the Workplace. ASB further invests in leadership development through their Leadership Academy, a robust 12-15 month cohort-based program designed to grow professionally and personally, enhance their leadership skills, and broaden their understanding of the banking industry. Offerings are delivered in online, instructor-led, and on-the-job learning formats. ASB’s focus on meaningful growth and development opportunities positions the bank to recruit and retain top talent.

Safety and health. The Company considers the safety and health of its workforce as one of its highest priorities. For the Utility, safety is of paramount importance due to the inherent risks involved in certain aspects of its operations and the critical importance to the State of Hawaii of maintaining the electrical grid. The Company strives to create workplace environments where employees feel physically and emotionally safe. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company has continued to modify its operations and policies to align with guidance from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and the Hawaii Department of Health. The Company also monitors the rates of infection within the state and makes adjustments, accordingly, to limit the risk of transmission in the workplace and ensure the health of the Company’s employees.

3

Hawaiian Electric. Hawaiian Electric is committed to maintaining a strong safety culture. Due to the nature of its operations, safety is of paramount importance. Management strives to provide visible leadership and strategic direction for the health and safety management system and programs in their area of responsibility. This leadership and direction help to build and maintain a strong safety culture and drive safety improvement, allocates adequate resources to enable implementation of safety programs and holds leaders accountable for the implementation of safety programs and resulting health and safety performance. Executive compensation is tied to achievement of quantified severity and total case incident rate targets (TCIR). These targets reward improvements in workplace safety, promote employee well-being, and reduce expenses. Hawaiian Electric promotes a safety culture that aims for zero incidents through all employees taking ownership of safety for themselves, their co-workers, contractors, and the public. More information on such targets is available in our annual proxy statement. Hawaiian Electric also provides a variety of programs and benefits that support employee physical, financial and emotional well-being. These programs include access to fitness and yoga classes, online corporate wellness activities, gym and group fitness discounts, and financial well-being classes.

ASB. ASB is committed to supporting the continued health and safety of its employees through a wellness program which takes a holistic approach to improving the health and well-being of its employees by focusing on all aspects of wellness including nutrition, fitness, mindfulness and finances. ASB also encourages participation in the program through its annual bank-wide step and weight loss challenges and community charity walks. ASB also offers outdoor and virtual fitness classes, including high intensity interval training and yoga. ASB’s employees can also participate in a program which allows employees to enjoy national fitness center chains or workout in their homes at a reduced price. To further support ASB’s employees’ well-being, ASB rewards everyone who completes an annual preventative health screening with a Wellness Holiday, offers a robust employee assistance program, and provides many family friendly benefits.

Workforce Stability. The Company’s employees are its greatest asset and the Company strives to create a highly desirable place to work.

Hawaiian Electric. Hawaiian Electric seeks to provide compensation and benefits that is comprehensive, market-competitive, and internally equitable to attract, engage, and retain highly skilled employees. Hawaiian Electric believes that employee engagement is key to creating a desirable, inclusive, rewarding place to work and conducts employee engagement surveys on a regular cycle, and, more recently, change management surveys to assess and support the organizations adaptability to change. Hawaiian Electric is expanding its’ strategic workforce planning initiative to build its’ workforce to support future transformation plans.

ASB. ASB seeks to attract, develop, and retain high performers who not only excel at their jobs but who also align with ASB’s priorities and objectives. ASB strives to provide competitive pay benefits and an award-winning culture that attracts top talent. ASB regularly conducts anonymous employee surveys to gather feedback on their work experience. Topics covered include confidence in company leadership, career growth opportunities, diversity and inclusion, and suggestions on how to create a great place to work. Survey results are shared with leaders, who prioritize actions and activities in response to feedback to drive meaningful improvements in employee engagement. ASB’s talent management process is integrated into its business process and its human capital management strategy is part of its business strategy. ASB’s investment in creating a great place to work and innovative programs have resulted in it being recognized both locally and nationally for its workplace culture.

Properties. HEI leases office space from nonaffiliated lessors in downtown Honolulu under leases that expire in December 2022. See “Electric Utility” and “Bank” sections for a description of properties they own and lease.

Hamakua Energy, LLC, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Pacific Current, LLC, owns a total of approximately 93 acres located on the Hamakua coast on the island of Hawaii. Its power plant is situated on approximately 59 acres and the remaining 34 acres includes surrounding parcels of which 30 acres are located on the ocean front. Ka‘ie‘ie Waho Company, LLC (Ka‘ie‘ie Waho), a wholly owned subsidiary of Pacific Current, LLC, owns approximately 20 acres on the southern coast of the island of Kauai, which is used for solar energy production.

Electric utility

Hawaiian Electric and subsidiaries and service areas. Hawaiian Electric, Hawaii Electric Light and Maui Electric (Utilities) 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.

In 2020, the electric utilities’ revenues and net income amounted to approximately 88% and 86% respectively, of HEI’s consolidated revenues and net income, compared to approximately 89% and 72% in 2019 and approximately 89% and 71% in 2018, respectively.

4

The islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Lanai and Molokai have a combined population estimated at 1.4 million, or approximately 95% of the total population of the State of Hawaii, and comprise a service area of 5,815 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. In November 2020, the PUC approved Hawaiian Electric’s acquisition of the electric distribution systems serving 12 U.S. Army installations on Oahu, including Schofield Barracks, Wheeler Army Airfield, Tripler Amy Medical Center, Fort Shafter and Army housing areas.

The state has granted Hawaiian Electric, Hawaii Electric Light and Maui Electric 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.

Sales of electricity.

* As of December 31.

Regulatory mechanisms. Base electric rates are set in rate cases, and on April 29, 2020, the PUC issued a D&O terminating the mandatory triennial rate case cycle in anticipation of the performance-based regulation framework (PBR Framework). The regulatory framework in effect in 2020 includes a number of mechanisms designed to provide utility financial stability during the transition toward the state’s 100% renewable energy goals. For example, under the sales decoupling mechanism, the utilities are allowed to recover from customers, target test year revenues, independent of the level of kilowatthour (kWh) sales, which have declined measured on an annual basis, with the exception of 2019, as privately-owned distributed energy resources have been added to the grid and energy efficiency measures have been put into place. A summary of these regulatory mechanisms is as follows:

Mechanism Description

On December 23, 2020, the PUC issued a D&O in Phase 2 of the PBR proceeding, establishing a new PBR Framework for the Utilities. The PBR Framework includes, among other matters, a five-year multi-year rate plan with an index-driven annual revenue adjustment (ARA), which replaces the RAM, modification of the MPIR mechanism (renamed Exceptional Project Recovery Mechanism (EPRM)) to include deferred and operation and maintenance (O&M) expense projects and to permit the Utilities to include the full amount of approved costs in the EPRM for recovery in the first year the project goes into service, pro-rated for the portion of the year the project is in service, and continuation of (i) the revenue balancing account, (ii) the pension and other postretirement benefit tracking mechanisms, and (iii) energy cost recovery clause, purchased power adjustment clause, and other recovery mechanisms. See “Commitments and contingencies-Regulatory proceedings-Performance-based regulation framework” in Note 3 of the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Seasonality. kWh sales of the Utilities follow a seasonal pattern, but they do not experience extreme seasonal variations experienced by some electric utilities on the U.S. mainland. In Hawaii, kWh sales tend to increase in the warmer, more humid

5

months as a result of increased demand for air conditioning, and with cloudy and rainy weather due to lower production by privately owned customer photovoltaic (PV) systems. In 2020, kWh sales decreased significantly compared to the prior year due to the impact of restrictions imposed in Hawaii as a result of the pandemic, which in turn reduced the demand for electricity.

Significant customers. The Utilities derived approximately 11% of their operating revenues in each of 2020, 2019 and 2018 from the sale of electricity to various federal government agencies. Hawaiian Electric continues to work with various federal agencies to implement measures that will help them achieve their energy efficiency, resilience and clean energy objectives.

Selected consolidated electric utility operating statistics.

kWh sales (millions)

kWh net generated and purchased (millions)

Energy supply (December 31)

Customer accounts (December 31)

Electric revenues (thousands)

Residential statistics

1Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV) had been offline due to lava flow on Hawaii Island since May 2018, but returned to service at a level providing limited output without firm capacity in the fourth quarter of 2020; therefore, PGV’s capability has not been incorporated into the utility’s firm contract power capability as of December 31, 2020 and 2019.

2Sum 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, 2020. 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.

Hawaiian Electric Hawaii Electric Light Maui Electric

Net generating and firm purchased capability (MW) as of December 31, 20201

Biodiesel internal combustion engine 57.4 — — — — 57.4

1Hawaiian Electric units at normal ratings; Hawaii Electric Light and Maui Electric units at reserve ratings.

2Nonutility generators - Hawaiian Electric: 208 MW (Kalaeloa Partners, L.P., oil-fired), 180 MW (AES Hawaii, Inc., coal-fired) and 68.5 MW (HPOWER, refuse-fired); Hawaii Electric Light: 60 MW (Hamakua Energy, LLC, oil-fired). Hawaii Electric Light also has a firm capacity PPA with PGV for 34.6 MW. However, Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV) had been offline due to lava flow on Hawaii Island since May 2018, but returned to service at a level providing limited output without firm capacity in the fourth quarter of 2020; therefore, PGV’s capability has not been incorporated into the utility’s firm contract power capability as of December 31, 2020.

3Noncoincident and nonintegrated.

Generating reliability and reserve margin. Hawaiian Electric serves the island of Oahu and Hawaii Electric Light serves the island of Hawaii. Maui Electric has three separate electrical systems—one each on the islands of Maui, Molokai and Lanai. Hawaiian Electric, Hawaii Electric Light and Maui Electric 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 and cost structure 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.

Nonutility generation. The Utilities have 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 Utilities’ renewable energy sources and potential sources range from wind, solar, photovoltaic, geothermal, wave and hydroelectric power to energy produced by municipal waste and other biofuels.

The rate schedules of the electric utilities contain ECRCs and PPACs that allow them to recover costs of fuel and purchase power expenses.

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 programs. The electric utilities also receive renewable energy from customers under its Net Energy Metering and Customer Grid Supply programs.

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.

Hawaiian Electric firm capacity PPAs. Hawaiian Electric currently has three major PPAs that provide a total of 456.5 MW of firm capacity, representing 26% of Hawaiian Electric’s total net generating and firm purchased capacity on the Island of Oahu as of December 31, 2020.

In March 1988, Hawaiian Electric entered into a PPA with 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

7

beginning September 1992, Hawaiian Electric will purchase 180 megawatts (MW) of firm capacity. The AES Hawaii coal-fired cogeneration plant utilizes a “clean coal” technology. See “Commitments and contingencies–Power purchase agreements–AES Hawaii, Inc.” in Note 3 of the Consolidated Financial Statements for an update regarding this PPA.

Under a 1988 PPA, as amended, Hawaiian Electric is committed to purchase 208 MW of firm capacity from Kalaeloa Partners, L.P. (Kalaeloa). The Kalaeloa facility, which is a Qualifying Facility (QF), 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. Hawaiian Electric and Kalaeloa are currently in negotiations to address the PPA term that ended on May 23, 2016. The PPA automatically extends on a month-to-month basis as long as the parties are still negotiating in good faith, but would end 60 days after either party notifies the other in writing that negotiations have terminated. Hawaiian Electric and Kalaeloa have agreed that neither party will terminate the PPA prior to April 30, 2021. This agreement contemplates continued negotiations between the parties.

Hawaiian Electric 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). Under the PPA, as amended and restated, Hawaiian Electric is committed to purchase 68.5 MW of firm capacity annually through April 2033.

Hawaii Electric Light firm capacity PPAs. Hawaii Electric Light has one major PPA that provides a total of 60 MW of firm capacity, representing 25% of Hawaii Electric Light’s total net generating and firm purchased capacity on the Island of Hawaii as of December 31, 2020.

In October 1997, Hawaii Electric Light entered into an agreement with Encogen, which was succeeded by Hamakua Energy Partners, L. P. (HEP). The agreement requires Hawaii Electric Light 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 facility consists of two oil-fired combustion turbines and a steam turbine that utilizes waste heat from the combustion turbines, which primarily burns naphtha (a mixture of liquid hydrocarbons) and, starting in late 2019, biodiesel (comprising approximately 19% of the fuel mix in 2020). In November 2017, Hamakua Energy, LLC, an indirect subsidiary of HEI, purchased the plant from HEP.

Hawaii Electric Light has a 35-year PPA, as amended, with Puna Geothermal Venture (PGV) for 34.6 MW of firm capacity from its geothermal steam facility, which will expire on December 31, 2027. However, the PGV facility went offline in May 2018 due to lava flow on Hawaii Island. In March 2019, Hawaii Electric Light entered into a Rebuild Agreement with PGV, which sets forth the parties’ respective responsibilities associated with restoration of the facility. The Rebuild Agreement shall govern the terms until PGV becomes fully operational. PGV returned to service at a level providing limited output without firm capacity in the fourth quarter of 2020. In December 2019, Hawaii Electric Light entered into an Amended and Restated PPA with PGV to, among other things, extend the term by 25 years to 2052 and expand the firm capacity capable of being delivered to 46 MW, subject to PUC approval. See “New renewable PPAs” in the “Developments in renewable energy efforts” section in Hawaiian Electric’s MD&A.

In May 2012, Hawaii Electric Light signed a PPA with Hu Honua Bioenergy, LLC (Hu Honua) for 21.5 MW of renewable, dispatchable firm capacity fueled by locally grown biomass on the island of Hawaii. This PPA was approved by the PUC in December 2013, however, the approval was appealed. The Supreme Court of Hawaii issued a decision remanding the matter to the PUC for further proceedings. See “Commitments and contingencies–Power purchase agreements–Hu Honua Bioenergy, LLC” in Note 3 of the Consolidated Financial Statements for an update regarding this PPA.

Maui Electric firm capacity PPAs. Maui Electric has no firm capacity PPAs.

Fuel oil usage and supply. The rate schedules of the Utilities include ECRCs (changed from ECACs in 2019) 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 ECRC below under “Rates,” and “Material estimates and critical accounting policies–Revenues” in Hawaiian Electric’s MD&A.

Hawaiian Electric’s steam generating units consume LSFO and Hawaiian Electric’s combustion turbine peaking units consume diesel, including Hawaiian Electric’s Campbell Industrial Park generating facility which recently converted from B99 grade biodiesel to diesel. Hawaiian Electric’s Schofield Generating Station consumes mostly B99 grade biodiesel, but is permitted to also burn ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD).

Hawaii Electric Light’s and Maui Electric’s steam generating units burn high sulfur fuel oil (HSFO) and Hawaii Electric Light’s and Maui Electric’s Maui combustion turbine generating units burn diesel. Hawaii Electric Light’s and Maui Electric’s Maui, Molokai, and Lanai diesel engine generating units burn ULSD.

See “Fuel contracts” in Hawaiian Electric’s MD&A.

8

The following table sets forth the average cost of fuel oil used by Hawaiian Electric, Hawaii Electric Light and Maui Electric to generate electricity in 2020, 2019 and 2018:

Hawaiian Electric Hawaii Electric Light Maui Electric Consolidated

$/Barrel ¢/MBtu $/Barrel ¢/MBtu $/Barrel ¢/MBtu $/Barrel ¢/MBtu

The average per-unit cost of fuel oil consumed to generate electricity for Hawaiian Electric, Hawaii Electric Light and Maui Electric reflects a different volume mix of fuel types and grades as follows:

Hawaiian Electric Hawaii Electric Light Maui Electric

% LSFO % Biodiesel/Diesel % HSFO % Diesel % HSFO % Diesel

The prices that Hawaiian Electric and Hawaii Electric Light pay for purchased energy from certain older 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 Par Hawaii Refining, LLC (PAR), vary primarily with the price of Asian crude oil. On December 31, 2019, Hawaii Electric Light and PGV entered into an Amended and Restated Power Purchase Agreement, which delinks the pricing for energy delivered from the facility from fossil fuel prices. Hamakua Energy energy prices vary primarily with the cost of naphtha.

The Utilities estimate that 63% of the net energy they generate will come from fossil fuel oil in 2021 compared to 64% in 2020. Hawaiian Electric generally maintains an average system fuel inventory level equivalent to 47 days of forward consumption. Hawaii Electric Light and Maui Electric generally maintain an average system fuel inventory level equivalent to approximately one month’s supply of both HSFO and diesel. The PPAs with AES Hawaii and Hamakua Energy require that they maintain certain minimum fuel inventory levels.

Rates. Hawaiian Electric, Hawaii Electric Light and Maui Electric are subject to the regulatory jurisdiction of the PUC with respect to rates, issuance of securities, accounting and certain other matters. See “Regulation” below.

General rate increases require the prior approval of the PUC after public and contested case hearings. Rates for Hawaiian Electric and its subsidiaries include ECRCs (changed from ECACs in 2019), and PPACs. 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. Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) requires the PUC to periodically review the adjustment clauses related to energy cost 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. PUC approval is also required for all surcharges and adjustments before they are reflected in rates.

See “Most recent rate proceedings,” and “Material estimates and critical accounting policies–Revenues” in Hawaiian Electric’s MD&A and “Utility projects” under “Commitments and contingencies” in Note 3 of the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Competition. See “Competition” in Hawaiian Electric’s MD&A.

Regulation. The PUC regulates the rates, issuance of securities, accounting and certain other aspects of the operations of Hawaiian Electric and its electric utility subsidiaries. See the previous discussion under “Rates” and the discussions under “Electric utility–Results of operations–Most recent rate proceedings.”

On September 15, 2014, the State of Hawaii and the U.S. Department of Energy executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) recognizing that Hawaii is embarking on the next phase of its clean energy future. The MOU provides the framework for a comprehensive, sustained effort to better realize its vast renewable energy potential and allow Hawaii to push forward in three main areas: the power sector, transportation and energy efficiency. This next phase is focused on stimulating deployment of clean energy infrastructure as a catalyst for economic growth, energy system innovation and test bed investments.

Energy efficiency. The PUC issued an order on January 3, 2012 approving a framework for Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standards (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. Pursuant to the PUC’s EEPS framework, the PUC has contracted with a public benefits fee administrator to operate and manage energy

9

efficiency programs, and any incentive and/or penalty mechanisms related to the achievement of the goals are at the discretion of the PUC.

The Division of Consumer Advocacy’s 2019 Compliance Resolution Fund Report states that Hawaii continues to progress towards its 2030 Renewable Portfolio Standards and EEPS goals. The EEPS has contributed to lower kWh sales; however, the implementation of sales decoupling has delinked sales and revenues. See “Regulatory mechanisms” above.

Electrification of Transportation. In June 2018, the PUC initiated a proceeding to review the Utilities’ Electrification of Transportation (EoT) Strategic Roadmap, which provided an economic analysis for light duty electric vehicles on the island of Oahu, Maui and Hawaii. In July 2019 the Utilities filed a study analyzing data regarding the critical backbone for electric vehicle charging needs in their service territories. In October 2019, the Utilities filed their EoT Workplan, establishing a schedule to continue implementation of the EoT roadmap with a focus on EV rate design and make-ready charging infrastructure in the near-term. The Utilities followed through on the EoT Workplan in 2020, with three filings: the electric bus make ready infrastructure pilot, Charge Ready Hawaii commercial infrastructure pilot, and two commercial EV rates, EV-J and EV-P. The Utilities also filed an EoT innovation pilot framework which the PUC subsequently incorporated into the performance-based regulation proceeding. In December 2020, the PUC approved a broader based pilot framework applicable to various opportunities, largely drawing from the Utilities’ proposal.In August 2020, the Utilities committed to electrifying 100% of its class 1 vehicles (sedans, SUVs and light trucks) by 2035.

Renewable Portfolio Standards. In 2015, Hawaii’s RPS law was amended to require electric utilities to meet an RPS of 15%, 30%, 40%, 70% and 100% by December 31, 2015, 2020, 2030, 2040 and 2045, respectively. Energy savings resulting from energy efficiency programs do not count toward the RPS since 2014 (only electrical generation using renewable energy as a source counts). The Utilities’ RPS for 2020 was 34.5%, which was in excess of the statutory goal of 30%.

Affiliate transactions. Certain transactions between HEI’s electric public utility subsidiaries (Hawaiian Electric, Hawaii Electric Light and Maui Electric) and HEI and affiliated interests (as defined by statute) are subject to regulation by the PUC.

In December 1996, the PUC issued an order in a docket to review the relationship between HEI and Hawaiian Electric and the effects of that relationship on the operations of Hawaiian Electric. The order required Hawaiian Electric 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 Hawaiian Electric). Hawaiian Electric files such status reports annually. In the order, the PUC also required the Utilities 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. The Utilities 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 Hawaiian Electric’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 Hawaiian Electric’s utility customers.

In December 2018, the PUC established a set of requirements governing transactions and sharing of information between the Utilities and its affiliates (Affiliate Transaction Requirements, ATRs), which was subsequently modified and clarified in January 2019 following the Utilities’ motion for reconsideration. The PUC stated the intent of the ATRs is to establish safeguards to avoid potential market power benefits and cross-subsidization between regulated and unregulated activities. The requirements include rules on interactions with affiliates, information handling, business development, political activities, promotional activities, sales of products and services, and employee sharing restrictions. The ATRs include implementing an internal code of conduct, a compliance plan, including policies and procedures to comply with the requirements, and having an audit conducted every three years that examines the compliance with the requirements. Penalties for non-compliance depend on the severity of the violation, and can range from daily fines to divestiture of the Utilities by the holding company.

Other regulations. The Utilities 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 addresses transmission access, also apply to the Utilities. The Utilities are also required to file various operational reports with the FERC.

Because they are located in the State of Hawaii, Hawaiian Electric 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.

10

Environmental regulation. Hawaiian Electric, Hawaii Electric Light and Maui Electric, 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. Except as otherwise disclosed in this report (see “Risk Factors” in Item 1A, and Notes 1 and 3 of the Consolidated Financial Statements), the Utilities believe 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 capital expenditures, earnings and competitive position of the Utilities.

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) and the Safe Drinking Water Act Underground Injection Control (regulating disposal of wastewater into the subsurface).

Oil pollution controls. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) establishes programs that govern actual or threatened oil releases and imposes strict liability on responsible parties for clean-up costs and damages to natural resources and property. The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations under OPA require certain facilities that use or store oil to prepare and implement Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) Plans in order to prevent releases of oil to navigable waters of the U.S. Certain facilities are also required to prepare and implement Facility Response Plans (FRPs) to ensure prompt and proper response to releases of oil. The utility facilities that are subject to SPCC Plan and FRP requirements have prepared and implemented SPCC Plans and FRPs.

Air quality controls. The Clean Air Act (CAA) establishes permitting programs to reduce air pollution. The CAA amendments of 1990, established the federal Title V Operating Permit Program (in Hawaii known as the Covered Source Permit program) to ensure compliance with all applicable federal and state air pollution control requirements. The 1977 CAA Amendments established the New Source Review (NSR) permitting program, which affect new or modified generating units by requiring a permit to construct under the CAA and the controls necessary to meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

Title V operating permits have been issued for all of the Utilities’ affected generating units.

Hazardous waste and toxic substances controls. The operations of the electric utility are subject to EPA regulations that implement provisions of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA, also known as Superfund), the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA), and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

RCRA underground storage tank (UST) regulations require all facilities that use USTs for storing petroleum products to comply with established leak detection, spill prevention, standards for tank design and retrofits, financial assurance, operator training, and tank decommissioning and closure requirements. All of the Utilities’ USTs currently meet the applicable requirements.

The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act under SARA Title III requires the Utilities 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. Since January 1, 1998, the steam electric industry category has been subject to Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting requirements.

The TSCA regulations specify procedures for the handling and disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a compound found in some transformer and capacitor dielectric fluids. The TSCA regulations also apply to responses to releases of PCBs to the environment. The Utilities 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. In April 2010, the EPA issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rule Making announcing its intent to reassess PCB regulations. The EPA has ceased activity on the PCB reassessment.

Hawaii’s Environmental Response Law (ERL), as amended, 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.

The Utilities periodically discover leaking oil-containing equipment such as USTs, piping, and transformers. Each subsidiary reports releases from such equipment when and as required by applicable law and addresses the releases in compliance with applicable regulatory requirements.

11

Additional information. For additional information about Hawaiian Electric, see Hawaiian Electric’s MD&A, Hawaiian Electric’s “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk” and Hawaiian Electric’s Consolidated Financial Statements, including the Notes thereto.

Properties. As of December 31, 2020, the Utilities’ ownership in generating assets was as follows:

Property Location (island) Principal Fuel Type Generating Capacity (MW) Status

Hawaiian Electric:

Waiau1 Oahu LSFO / Diesel 480.8 Active

Kahe1 Oahu LSFO 620.5 Active

Campbell Industrial Park (CIP)1 Oahu Diesel 129.0 Active

Honolulu Power Plant1 Oahu N/A — Deactivated in 2014

Schofield Generating Station2 Oahu Biodiesel / ULSD 49.4 Active

West Loch PV Project3 Oahu Renewable (Solar) 20.0 Active

Hawaii Electric Light4:

Shipman Hawaii N/A — Retired in 2015

Waimea Hawaii ULSD 7.5 Active

Keahole Hawaii Diesel / ULSD 77.6 Active

Puna Hawaii HSFO / Diesel 36.7 Active

Hill/Kanoelehua Hawaii HSFO / ULSD 55.4 Active

Distributed generators at substation sites Hawaii ULSD 5.0 Active

Maui Electric5:

Kahului Maui HSFO 35.9 Active

Maalaea Maui Diesel / ULSD 210.4 Active

Miki Basin Lanai ULSD 9.4 Active

Palaau Molokai ULSD 12.0 Active

1 The four plants are situated on Hawaiian Electric-owned land having a combined area of 542 acres.

2 Hawaiian Electric has a 35-year land lease on 8.13 acres, effective September 1, 2016 (with an option to extend an additional 10 years), with the Department of the Army.

3 Hawaiian Electric has a 37-year land lease on 102 acres, effective July 1, 2017, with the Secretary of the Navy.

4 The plants are situated on Hawaii Electric Light-owned land having a combined area of approximately 44 acres. The distributed generators are located within Hawaii Electric Light-owned substation sites having a combined area of approximately four acres.

5 The four plants are situated on Maui Electric-owned land having a combined area of 60.7 acres.

As of December 31, 2020, the Utilities ownership in fuel storage facilities was as follows:

Hawaiian Electric:

Barbers Point Tank Farm Oahu LSFO 1,000 Kahe, Waiau

Generation sites - various (in aggregate) Oahu LSFO 770 Various

Generation sites - various (in aggregate) Oahu Diesel 132 Various

Generation sites - various (in aggregate) Oahu Biodiesel 11 Various

Hawaii Electric Light1:

Generation sites - various (in aggregate) Hawaii HSFO 48 Various

Generation sites - various (in aggregate) Hawaii Diesel 82 Various

Maui Electric2:

Generation sites - various (in aggregate) Maui HSFO 81 Various

Generation sites - various (in aggregate) Maui Diesel 95 Various

1 There are an additional 19,200 barrels of diesel and 24,770 barrels of HSFO storage capacity for Hawaii Electric Light-owned fuel off-site at Island Energy Services, LLC-owned terminalling facilities.

2 There are an additional 56,358 barrels of diesel oil storage capacity off-site at Aloha Petroleum, Ltd-owned terminalling facilities.

12

Other properties. The Utilities own overhead transmission and distribution lines, underground cables, pole (some jointly) and metal high voltage towers. Electric lines are located over or under public and nonpublic properties.

Hawaiian Electric owns a total of 132 acres of land on which substations, transformer vaults, distribution baseyards and the Kalaeloa cogeneration facility are located. Hawaiian Electric also owns buildings and approximately 11.6 acres of land located in Honolulu, which house its operating and engineering departments. It also leases an office building and certain office spaces in Honolulu, land for office spaces and storage in Pearl City, and a warehousing center in Kapolei.

Hawaii Electric Light 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. Hawaii Electric Light also leases 3.7 acres of land for its baseyard in Hilo under a lease expiring in 2030. In addition, Hawaii Electric Light 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.

Maui Electric’s administrative offices, as well as its engineering and distribution departments, are situated on 9.1 acres of Maui Electric-owned land in Kahului. Maui Electric also owns approximately 18 acres of land which house some of its substations, leases approximately 3,600 square feet of land for its telecommunication and microwave facilities, leases approximately 6,000 square feet of land at Kahului Harbor for pipeline purposes, and leases 17,958 square feet of land at Puunene for the Puunene Substation. Maui Electric also owns approximately 89 acres of undeveloped land at Waena, Palaau, and Kahului. Fuel storage facilities are located on Maui Electric-owned properties at Kahului Baseyard, Kahului Power Plant, Maalaea Power Plant, Miki Basin, Palaau, and Hana. Two, 1-MW stand-by diesel generators are located within the Maui Electric-owned land at Hana Substation.

See “Hawaiian Electric and subsidiaries and service areas” above for a discussion of the nonexclusive franchises of Hawaiian Electric and subsidiaries.

See “Generation statistics” above for a further discussion of some of the electric utility properties.

Bank

General. ASB is one of the largest financial institutions headquartered in the State of Hawaii with assets of $8.4 billion and deposits of $7.4 billion, as of December 31, 2020. ASB is a full-service community bank that serves both consumer and commercial customers and operates 42 branches on the islands of Oahu (29), Maui (6), Hawaii (4), Kauai (2), and Molokai (1).

In 2020, ASB’s revenues and net income amounted to approximately 12% and 29% of HEI’s consolidated revenues and net income, respectively, compared to approximately 11% and 41% in 2019 and approximately 11% and 41% in 2018.

At the time of HEI’s acquisition of ASB, HEI agreed with the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), Department of Treasury’s 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, 2020, as a result of certain HEI contributions of capital to ASB over the years, 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 from the FRB communicating the OCC’s and FRB’s non-objection to the payment of any dividend ASB proposes to declare and pay to ASB Hawaii and HEI.

Lending activities. See Note 4 of the Consolidated Financial Statements for the composition of ASB’s loan portfolio.

Origination, purchase and sale of loans. Generally, 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-backed securities portfolio and the geographic concentration of credit risk, see Note 15 of the 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 lending. ASB originates fixed rate and adjustable rate loans secured by single family residential property, including investor-owned properties, with maturities of up to 30 years. ASB’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 non-owner-occupied residential property purchases, the loan-to-value ratio may not exceed 75% of the lower of the appraised value or purchase price at origination.

13

Construction and development lending. ASB provides fixed 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 “Bank—Loan portfolio risk elements” in HEI’s MD&A and “Multifamily residential and commercial real estate lending” below.

Multifamily residential and commercial real estate lending. ASB 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 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 lending. ASB 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, clean energy loans, secured and unsecured VISA cards (through a third party issuer), checking account overdraft protection and other general purpose consumer loans.

Commercial lending. ASB provides both secured and unsecured commercial loans to business entities. This lending activity is designed to diversify ASB’s asset structure, shorten maturities, improve rate sensitivity of the loan portfolio and attract commercial checking deposits. ASB offers commercial loans with terms generally up to ten years.

Loan origination fee and servicing income. In addition to interest earned on residential mortgage 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 charges the borrower at loan settlement a loan origination fee. See “Loans” in Note 1 of the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Deposits and sources of funds. Deposits continue to be the largest source of funds for ASB for use in lending, meeting liquidity requirements and making investments, and are affected by market interest rates, competition and management’s responses to these factors. While deposits have increased by $1.1 billion in 2020 in part due to PPP loan proceeds and consumer economic impact payments from the CARES Act stimulus program, deposit retention and sustained growth will remain challenging in the current environment due to the low level of short-term interest rates. ASB borrows on a short-term basis to compensate for seasonal or other reductions in deposit flows. ASB may borrow on a longer-term basis to support expanded lending or investment activities. Advances from the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of Des Moines and securities sold under agreements to repurchase continue to be additional sources of funds, but they are a higher cost funding source than deposits.

Competition. The banking industry in Hawaii is highly competitive. At December 31, 2020, there were 8 financial institutions insured by the FDIC headquartered in the State of Hawaii. While ASB is one of the largest financial institutions in Hawaii, based on total assets, ASB faces vigorous competition for deposits and loans from two larger banking institutions based in Hawaii and from smaller institutions that heavily promote their services in niche areas, such as providing financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, as well as national financial services organizations. Competition for loans and deposits comes primarily from other savings institutions, commercial banks, credit unions, securities brokerage firms, money market and mutual funds and other investment alternatives. ASB faces additional competition in seeking deposit funds from various types of corporate and government borrowers, including insurance companies. Competition for origination of mortgage loans comes primarily from mortgage banking and brokerage firms, commercial banks, other savings institutions, insurance companies and real estate investment trusts. See also “Bank—Executive overview and strategy” in HEI’s MD&A.

To remain competitive and continue building core franchise value, ASB continues to develop and introduce new products and services to meet the needs of its consumer and commercial customers. Additionally, the banking industry is constantly changing and ASB is making the investment in its people and technology necessary to adapt and remain competitive.

The primary factors in ASB’s competition for mortgage and other loans are the competitive interest rates and loan origination fees it charges, the wide variety of loan programs it offers and the quality and efficiency of the services it provides to borrowers and the business community. ASB believes that it is able to compete for such loans primarily through the competitive interest rates and loan fees it charges, the type of mortgage loan programs it offers and the efficiency and quality of the services it provides to individual borrowers and the business community.

The primary factors in competing for deposits are interest rates, the quality and range of services offered, marketing, convenience of locations, hours of operation, availability and functionality of other non-branch channels such as online and

14

mobile banking and perceptions of the institution’s financial soundness and safety. To compete effectively, ASB offers a variety of savings and checking accounts at competitive rates, convenient business hours, convenient branch locations with interbranch deposit and withdrawal privileges at each branch, convenient automated teller machines and an upgrade of ASB’s electronic banking platform. ASB also conducts advertising and promotional campaigns.

ASB has been diversifying its loan portfolio from single-family home mortgages to higher-spread, shorter-duration consumer, commercial and commercial real estate loans. The origination of consumer, commercial and commercial real estate loans involves risks and other considerations different from those associated with originating residential real estate loans. For example, the sources and level of competition may be different and credit risk is generally higher than for residential mortgage loans. These different risk factors are considered in the underwriting and pricing standards and in the allowance for credit losses established by ASB for its consumer, commercial and commercial real estate loans.

Regulation. ASB, a federally chartered saving bank, is subject to examination and comprehensive regulation by the Department of Treasury, OCC and the FDIC, and is subject to reserve requirements established by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Regulation by these agencies focuses in large measure on the adequacy of ASB’s capital and the results of periodic “safety and soundness” examinations conducted by the OCC. In addition, ASB’s holding companies are subject to the regulatory supervision of the FRB. See “HEI Consolidated–Regulation” above.

Changes to Community Bank Leverage Ratio. In April 2020, the federal bank regulatory agencies issued two interim final rules to implement Section 4012 of the CARES Act, which requires the agencies to temporarily lower the community bank leverage ratio to 8 percent. The two rules modify the community bank leverage ratio framework so that:

•Beginning in the second quarter of 2020 and until the end of the year, a banking organization that has a leverage ratio of 8 percent or greater and meets certain other criteria may elect to use the community bank leverage ratio framework; and

•Community banking organizations will have until January 1, 2022 before the community bank leverage ratio requirement is re-established at greater than 9 percent.

Under the interim final rules, the community bank leverage ratio requirement was 8 percent beginning in the second quarter of 2020 and for the remainder of calendar year 2020, 8.5 percent for calendar year 2021, and 9 percent thereafter. The interim final rules also maintained a two-quarter grace period for a qualifying community banking organization whose leverage ratio falls no more than 1 percent below the applicable community bank leverage ratio.

Beginning in the second quarter of 2020, ASB had adopted the community bank leverage ratio framework. With a Tier 1 leverage ratio of 8.38% as of December 31, 2020, ASB’s Tier 1 leverage ratio exceeded the minimum regulatory capital requirement of 4.0%.

See “Bank—Legislation and regulation” in HEI’s MD&A for the final capital rules under the Basel III regulatory capital framework.

Examinations. ASB is subject to periodic “safety and soundness” examinations and other examinations by the OCC. In conducting its examinations, the OCC utilizes the Uniform Financial Institutions Rating System adopted by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, which system utilizes the “CAMELS” criteria for rating financial institutions. The six components in the rating system are: Capital adequacy, Asset quality, Management, Earnings, Liquidity and Sensitivity to market risk. The OCC examines and rates each CAMELS component. An overall CAMELS rating is also given, after taking into account all of the component ratings. A financial institution may be subject to formal regulatory or administrative direction or supervision such as a “memorandum of understanding” or a “cease and desist” order following an examination if its CAMELS rating is not satisfactory. An institution is prohibited from disclosing the OCC’s report of its safety and soundness examination or the component and overall CAMELS rating to any person or organization not officially connected with the institution as an officer, director, employee, attorney or auditor, except as provided by regulation. The OCC also regularly examines ASB’s information technology practices and its performance under Community Reinvestment Act measurement criteria.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Act, as amended, addresses the safety and soundness of the deposit insurance system, supervision of depository institutions and improvement of accounting standards. Pursuant to this Act, federal banking agencies have promulgated regulations that affect the operations of ASB and its holding companies (e.g., standards for safety and soundness, real estate lending, accounting and reporting, transactions with affiliates and loans to insiders).

Deposit insurance coverage. The Federal Deposit Insurance Act, as amended, and regulations promulgated by the FDIC, govern insurance coverage of deposit accounts. In July 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act permanently raised the current standard maximum deposit insurance amount to $250,000. Generally, the amount of all deposits held by a depositor in the same capacity (even if held in separate accounts) is aggregated for purposes of applying the insurance limit.

15

See “Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation assessment” in Note 4 of the Consolidated Financial Statements for a discussion of FDIC deposit insurance assessment rates.

Recent legislation and issuances. See “Bank–Legislation and regulation” in HEI’s MD&A.

Affiliate transactions. Significant restrictions apply to certain transactions between ASB and its affiliates, including HEI and its direct and indirect subsidiaries. For example, ASB is prohibited from making any loan or other extension of credit to an entity affiliated with ASB unless the affiliate is engaged exclusively in activities which the FRB has determined to be permissible for bank holding companies. There are also various other restrictions which apply to certain transactions between ASB and certain executive officers, directors and insiders of ASB. ASB is also barred from making a purchase of or any investment in securities issued by an affiliate, other than with respect to shares of a subsidiary of ASB.

Financial derivatives and interest rate risk. ASB is subject to OCC rules relating to derivatives activities, such as interest rate swaps, interest rate lock commitments and forward commitments. See “Derivative financial instruments” in Note 4 of the Consolidated Financial Statements for a description of interest rate lock commitments and forward commitments used by ASB. Currently ASB does not use interest rate swaps to manage interest rate risk, but may do so in the future. Generally speaking, the OCC rules permit financial institutions to engage in transactions involving financial derivatives to the extent these transactions are otherwise authorized under applicable law and are safe and sound. The rules require ASB to have certain internal procedures for handling financial derivative transactions, including involvement of the ASB Board of Directors.

Management believes ASB’s interest rate risk processes are aligned with the Interagency Advisory on Interest Rate Risk Management and appropriate with earnings and capital levels, balance sheet complexity, business model and risk tolerance.

Liquidity. OCC regulations require ASB to maintain sufficient liquidity to ensure safe and sound operations. ASB’s principal sources of liquidity are customer deposits, borrowings, the maturity and repayment of portfolio loans and securities and the sale of loans into secondary market channels. ASB’s principal sources of borrowings are advances from the FHLB of Des Moines and securities sold under agreements to repurchase from broker/dealers. ASB is approved by the FHLB of Des Moines to borrow an amount of up to 35% of assets to the extent it provides qualifying collateral and holds sufficient FHLB of Des Moines stock. As of December 31, 2020, ASB’s unused FHLB of Des Moines borrowing capacity was approximately $2.1 billion. ASB utilizes growth in deposits, advances from the FHLB of Des Moines and securities sold under agreements to repurchase to fund maturing and withdrawable deposits, repay maturing borrowings, fund existing and future loans and make investments. As of December 31, 2020, ASB had loan commitments, undisbursed loan funds and unused lines and letters of credit of $2.0 billion. Management believes ASB’s current sources of funds will enable it to meet these obligations while maintaining liquidity at satisfactory levels.

Supervision. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 (the FDICIA) establishes a statutory framework that is triggered by the capital level of a financial institution and subjects it to progressively more stringent restrictions and supervision as capital levels decline. The prompt corrective action capital requirements establish thresholds for varying degrees of oversight and intervention by regulators. Declines in levels of capital, depending on their severity, will result in increasingly stringent mandatory and discretionary regulatory consequences. Capital levels may decline for any number of reasons, including reductions that would result if there were losses from operations, deterioration in collateral values or the inability to dispose of real estate owned (typically acquired by foreclosure). The regulators have substantial discretion in the corrective actions they might direct and could include restrictions on dividends and other distributions that ASB may make to HEI (through ASB Hawaii) and the requirement that ASB develop and implement a plan to restore its capital. The OCC rules implement the system of prompt corrective action. In particular, the rules define the relevant capital measures for the categories of “well capitalized,” “adequately capitalized,” “undercapitalized,” “significantly undercapitalized” and “critically undercapitalized.” As of December 31, 2020, ASB was “well-capitalized.”

Interest rates. FDIC regulations restrict the ability of financial institutions that are undercapitalized to offer interest rates on deposits that are significantly higher than the rates offered by competing institutions. As of December 31, 2020, ASB was “well capitalized” and thus not subject to these interest rate restrictions.

Qualified thrift lender test. ASB is a “qualified thrift lender” (QTL) under its federal thrift charter and, in order to maintain this status, ASB is required to maintain at least 65% of its assets in “qualified thrift investments,” measured on a monthly average basis in 9 out of the previous 12 months, which include housing-related loans (including mortgage-backed securities) as well as certain small business loans, education loans, loans made through credit card accounts and a basket (not exceeding 20% of total assets) of other consumer loans and other assets. Institutions that fail to maintain QTL status are subject to various penalties, including limitations on their activities. In ASB’s case, the activities of HEI, ASB Hawaii and HEI’s other subsidiaries would also be subject to restrictions if ASB failed to maintain its QTL status, and a failure or inability to comply with those restrictions could effectively result in the required divestiture of ASB. As of December 31, 2020, and at all times during 2020, ASB was a qualified thrift lender.

16

Federal Home Loan Bank System. ASB is a member of the FHLB System, which consists of 11 regional FHLBs, and ASB’s regional bank is the FHLB of Des Moines. The FHLB System provides a central credit facility for member institutions. Historically, the FHLBs have served as the central liquidity facilities for savings associations and sources of long-term funds for financing housing. At such time as an advance is made to ASB or renewed, it must be collateralized by collateral from one of the following categories: (1) fully disbursed, whole first mortgages on improved residential property, or securities representing a whole interest in such mortgages; (2) securities issued, insured or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or any agency thereof; (3) FHLB deposits; and (4) other real estate-related collateral that has a readily ascertainable value and with respect to which a security interest can be perfected. The aggregate amount of outstanding advances collateralized by such other real estate-related collateral may not exceed 300% of ASB’s capital.

ASB’s required holding in the stock of the FHLB is both membership and activity-based. Membership is based on a percentage of total assets (0.12%) while the portion related to activity is based on a percentage of outstanding activity, mainly advances (4%). As of December 31, 2020, ASB was required and owned capital stock in the FHLB of Des Moines in the amount of $8.7 million.

Community Reinvestment. The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) requires financial institutions to help meet the credit needs of their communities, including low- and moderate-income areas, consistent with safe and sound lending practices. The OCC will consider ASB’s CRA record in evaluating an application for a new deposit facility, including the establishment of a branch, the relocation of a branch or office, or the acquisition of an interest in another bank. ASB currently holds a “satisfactory” CRA rating.

Other laws. ASB is subject to federal and state consumer protection laws which affect deposit and lending activities, such as the Truth in Lending Act, the Truth in Savings Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and several federal and state financial privacy acts intended to protect consumers’ personal information and prevent identity theft, such as the Gramm Act and the Fair and Accurate Transactions Act. ASB is also subject to federal laws regulating certain of its lending practices, such as the Flood Disaster Protection Act, and laws requiring reports to regulators of certain customer transactions, such as the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act and the International Money Laundering Abatement and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act. ASB’s relationship with Cetera Investment Services LLC and Cetera Investment Advisers LLC is also governed by regulations adopted by the FRB under the Gramm Act, which regulate “networking” relationships under which a financial institution refers customers to a broker-dealer for securities services and employees of the financial institution are permitted to receive a nominal fee for the referrals. These laws may provide for substantial penalties in the event of noncompliance.

Proposed legislation. See the discussion of proposed legislation in “Bank–Legislation and regulation” in HEI’s MD&A.

Environmental regulation. ASB may be subject to the provisions of Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), Hawaii Environmental Response Law (ERL) and regulations promulgated thereunder, which impose liability for environmental cleanup costs on certain categories of responsible parties. CERCLA and ERL exempt persons whose ownership in a facility is held primarily to protect a security interest, provided that they do not participate in the management of the facility.

Additional information. 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 HEI’s Consolidated Financial Statements, including Note 4 thereto.

Properties. ASB owns or leases several office buildings in downtown Honolulu and owns land on which a number of its branches are located.

The following table sets forth the number of bank branches owned and leased by ASB by island:

Number of branches

December 31, 2020 Owned Leased Total

Kauai 2 — 2

Molokai — 1 1

As of December 31, 2020, the net book value (NBV) of branches and office facilities was $180 million ($174 million represents the NBV of the land and improvements for the branches and office facilities owned by ASB and $6 million represents the NBV of ASB’s leasehold improvements). As of December 31, 2019, the NBV of branches and office facilities was $182 million ($175 million represents the NBV of the land and improvements for the branches and office facilities owned

17

by ASB and $7 million represents the NBV of ASB’s leasehold improvements). The leases expire on various dates through December 2040, but many of the leases have extension provisions.

As of December 31, 2020, ASB owned 112 automated teller machines.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

The businesses of HEI and its subsidiaries involve numerous risks which, if realized, could have a material and adverse effect on the Company’s financial statements. For additional information for certain risk factors enumerated below and other risks of the Company and its operations, see “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” above and HEI’s MD&A, HEI’s “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk,” the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, Hawaiian Electric’s MD&A and Hawaiian Electric’s “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.”

Holding company and company-wide risks.

COVID-19—Our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations are being and could continue to be adversely impacted by the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.Due to the numerous country, state, city and local jurisdictions that have imposed “shelter-in-place” orders or other restrictions, including travel restrictions that directly impact the Hawaii economy, economic activity in the state has been adversely impacted. As a result of the swift economic contraction and reduction in tourism that has occurred in the state to date, the Utilities expect that demand for electricity will remain depressed and the provision for bad debt and write-offs at the Utilities will remain at an elevated level and impact liquidity as long as measures to contain the virus that severely restrict economic activity remain in place. In 2020, overall kWh sales have declined 7.1% as compared to 2019. While the Utilities expect to recover the difference between PUC approved target revenues and recorded adjusted revenues (regardless of the level of kWh sales) through the revenue balancing account under the decoupling mechanism based on estimated sales, starting on June 1st of the following year, the collection occurs on a lagged basis. If the difference to be collected, which needs to be financed in the interim, exceeds the Utilities’ current liquidity sources, there can be no assurance that the Utilities will be able to secure additional liquidity sources at a reasonable cost, or at all, or if the difference becomes so large that it would result in a significant increase in customer bills, whether the PUC will allow recovery of such difference through the revenue balancing account. In addition to lower and lagged collections, the COVID-19 pandemic has also resulted in higher costs and expenses. While the Utilities have been granted deferral treatment of certain COVID-19 related costs, such as higher bad debt expense, non-collection of late payment fees, higher financing costs, sequestration costs for mission-critical employees and other costs and expenses,there can be no assurance that the PUC will grant recovery of such costs, and such costs could be material. Additionally, in light of the significant impact that economic conditions have had on residents and businesses in the state, a stipulated settlement between Hawaiian Electric and the Division of Consumer Advocacy of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, reflecting no base rate increase, was submitted in the Hawaiian Electric 2020 test year rate case, and approved by the PUC in October 2020. While the Utilities intend to offset the no base rate increase with corresponding cost decreases, such reduction of cost is not assured and, therefore, the inability to achieve targeted cost savings could adversely affect the Utilities’ results of operations in future periods.

ASB’s net interest income has also been adversely impacted by lower interest rates across the curve, which are influenced by economic conditions. Accordingly, an extended economic slowdown could have a significant continuing impact on its net interest income. In addition, an extended economic slowdown may also affect the ability of borrowers to make payments on their loans, which would have an adverse impact on ASB’s provision for credit losses.

While the Company believes that it has sufficient liquidity to operate through this crisis, there can be no assurance that sufficient liquidity will be available if the slowdown in economic activity continues for an extended period of time.

The Company is closely monitoring the situation and taking appropriate actions to operate its businesses and protect its workforce while serving customers and the community. The slowdown in economic activity to date has had a significant adverse effect on the Company’s financial performance. If the slowdown in economic activity continues for an extended period of time, it could have a material adverse effect on the Company. These effects could include, but are not limited to:

•Disruptions or restrictions on employees’ ability to work effectively due to illness, travel restrictions, quarantines, shelter-in-place orders or other limitations.

•The inability of customers, IPPs, contractors, suppliers, creditors and other business partners to fulfill their obligations. For example, several IPPs have declared force majeure as a protective measure, citing the pandemic, which could potentially result in significant project delays.

•Disruption and volatility in the global credit and financial markets, which may increase the cost of capital and could adversely impact access to capital for the Company and its customers and suppliers.

18

•Further deterioration in economic conditions, or an extension of slow economic activity, which negatively impacts the Company’s earnings and liquidity, could also result in an impairment in the carrying value of goodwill or long-lived assets.

•Actions taken or may be taken, or decisions made or may be made by the Company, as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, may result in legal claims or litigation against the Company.

Due to the unprecedented nature of the pandemic and the significant uncertainty it creates, including the unknown severity and duration of the pandemic and the resulting impact it may have on Hawaii businesses and residents of the state, which could also be affected by the pace of distribution, administration, and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as the proportion of the population vaccinated, the Company is unable to predict the full extent of the future impact on the Company’s businesses at this time, and those impacts could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s results of operations, financial position, and cash flows.

Holding Company Risk—HEI is a holding company that derives its income from its operating subsidiaries and depends on the ability of those subsidiaries to pay dividends or make other distributions to HEI and on its own ability to raise capital. 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 cash flows and consequent ability to service its obligations and pay dividends on its common stock is dependent upon its receipt of dividends or other distributions from its operating subsidiaries and its ability to issue common stock or other equity securities and to incur additional debt. The ability of HEI’s subsidiaries to pay dividends or make other distributions to HEI, in turn, is subject to the risks associated with their operations and to contractual and regulatory restrictions, including:

•the provisions of an HEI agreement with the PUC, which could limit the ability of HEI’s principal electric public utility subsidiary, Hawaiian Electric, to pay dividends to HEI in the event that the consolidated common stock equity of the Utilities falls below 35% of total capitalization of the electric utilities;

•the provisions of an HEI agreement entered into with federal bank regulators in connection with its acquisition of its bank subsidiary, ASB, which requires HEI to contribute additional capital to ASB (up to a maximum amount of additional capital of $28.3 million as of December 31, 2020 under the Regulatory Capital Maintenance/Dividend Agreement dated May 26, 1988, between HEI, HEIDI (HEI Diversified Inc.) and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation) upon request of the regulators in order to maintain ASB’s regulatory capital at the level required by regulation;

•the minimum capital and capital distribution regulations of the OCC that are applicable to ASB and capital regulations that become applicable to HEI and ASB Hawaii;

•the receipt of a letter from the FRB communicating the OCC’s and the FRB’s non-objection to the payment of any dividend ASB proposes to declare and pay to ASB Hawaii and HEI; and

•the provisions of preferred stock resolutions and debt instruments of HEI and its subsidiaries.

Credit and Capital Market Risk—The Company, and its credit rating, is subject to risks associated with the Hawaii economy (in the aggregate and on an individual island basis), volatile U.S. capital markets and changes in the interest rate and credit market environment that have or could result in higher retirement benefit plan funding requirements, declines in ASB’s interest rate margins and investment values, higher delinquencies and charge-offs in ASB’s loan portfolio and restrictions on the ability of HEI or its subsidiaries to borrow money or issue securities. The two largest components of Hawaii’s economy are tourism and the federal government (including the military). Because the core businesses of HEI’s subsidiaries are providing local public electric utility services (through Hawaiian Electric and its subsidiaries) and banking services (through ASB) in Hawaii, the Company’s operating results are significantly influenced by: Hawaii’s economy, which in turn is influenced by economic conditions in the mainland U.S. (particularly California) and Asia (particularly Japan) as a result of the impact of those conditions on tourism; by the impact of interest rates on the construction and real estate industries and by the impact of federal government spending in Hawaii, which can be affected by world conditions; and, from time to time, the expiration of federal government appropriations bills. In addition, the Hawaii economy could be directly or indirectly affected by implications and potential impacts of U.S. and foreign capital and credit market conditions and federal, state and international responses to those conditions and the potential impacts of global and local developments (including economic conditions and uncertainties; unrest, terrorist acts, wars, conflicts, political protests, deadly virus epidemic, pandemics, or other crisis; the effects of changes that have or may occur in U.S. policy, such as with respect to immigration and trade).

HEI’s and Hawaiian Electric’s securities ratings only reflect the view, at the time the ratings are issued, of the applicable rating agency. 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, such as current, past or future effects or events so warrant. Any such lowering, suspension or withdrawal of any rating may have an adverse effect on the availability of capital to the Company or the market price or marketability of HEI’s and/or Hawaiian Electric’s securities, which could increase the cost of capital of HEI and Hawaiian Electric, and such increased costs, including interest charges, under HEI’s and/or Hawaiian Electric’s debt securities and credit facilities, would result in reductions in HEI’s consolidated net income in future periods. Further, if HEI’s or Hawaiian Electric’s

19

commercial paper ratings were to be downgraded, HEI and Hawaiian Electric might not be able to sell commercial paper and might be required to draw on more expensive bank lines of credit or to defer capital or other expenditures. Neither HEI nor Hawaiian Electric management can predict future rating agency actions or their effects on the future cost of capital of HEI or Hawaiian Electric. Such ratings are not recommendations to buy, sell or hold any securities; such ratings may be subject to revision or withdrawal at any time by the rating agencies; and each rating should be evaluated independently of any other rating.

Changes in the U.S. capital markets can also have significant effects on the Company. For example, pension funding requirements are affected by the market performance of the assets in the master pension trust maintained for pension plans, and by the discount rate used to estimate the service and interest cost components of net periodic pension cost and value obligations. The Utilities’ pension tracking mechanisms help moderate pension expense; however, a significant reduction in the discount rate or in the value of the Company’s defined benefit pension plan assets could result in a substantial increase in the gap between the projected benefit obligations under the plans and the value of plan assets, resulting in increases in funding requirements.

Because the earnings of ASB depend primarily on net interest income, interest rate risk is a significant risk of ASB’s operations. HEI and the Utilities are also exposed to interest rate risk primarily due to their periodic borrowing requirements, the discount rate used to determine pension funding requirements and the possible effect of interest rates on the electric utilities’ rates of return. Interest rates are sensitive to many factors, including general economic conditions and the policies of government and regulatory authorities. HEI cannot predict future changes in interest rates, nor be certain that interest rate risk management strategies it or its subsidiaries have implemented will be successful in managing interest rate risk.

Interest rate risk also represents a market risk factor affecting the fair value of ASB’s investment securities. Increases and decreases in prevailing interest rates generally translate into decreases and increases in the fair values of those instruments, respectively. Disruptions in the credit markets, a liquidity crisis in the banking industry or increased levels of residential mortgage delinquencies and defaults may result in decreases in the fair value of ASB’s investment securities and an impairment, requiring ASB to write down its investment securities. As of December 31, 2020, ASB’s investment in U.S. Treasury, federal agency obligations, and mortgage-backed securities have an implicit guarantee from the U.S. government.

Geographic Concentration Risk—The Company is subject to the risks associated with the geographic concentration of its businesses and current lack of interconnections that could result in service interruptions at the Utilities or higher default rates on loans held by ASB. The business of the Utilities is concentrated on the individual islands they serve in the State of Hawaii. Their operations are more vulnerable to service interruptions than are many U.S. mainland utilities because none of the systems of the Utilities are interconnected with the systems on the other islands they serve. Because of this lack of interconnections, it is necessary to maintain higher generation reserve margins than are typical for U.S. mainland utilities to help ensure reliable service. Service interruptions, including in particular extended interruptions that could result from a natural disaster or terrorist activity, could adversely impact the revenues and costs of some or all of the Utilities.

Substantially all of ASB’s consumer loan customers are Hawaii residents. A significant portion of the commercial loan customers are also located in Hawaii. While a majority of customers are on Oahu, ASB also has customers on the neighbor islands (whose economies have been weaker than Oahu’s economy during the last economic downturn). Substantially all of the real estate underlying ASB’s residential and commercial real estate loans are located in Hawaii. These assets may be subject to a greater risk of default than other comparable assets held by financial institutions with other geographic concentrations in the event of adverse economic, political or business developments or natural disasters affecting Hawaii and affect the ability of ASB’s customers to make payments of principal and interest on their loans.

Competitive and Technological Risk—Increasing competition and technological advances could cause HEI’s businesses to lose customers or render their operations obsolete. The banking industry in Hawaii, and certain aspects of the electric utility industry, are competitive. The success of HEI’s subsidiaries in meeting competition and responding to technological advances will continue to have a direct impact on HEI’s consolidated financial performance. For example:

•ASB, one of the largest financial institutions in the state, is in direct competition for deposits and loans not only with two larger institutions that have substantial capital, technology and marketing resources, but also with smaller Hawaii institutions and other U.S. institutions, including credit unions, mutual funds, mortgage brokers, finance companies and investment banking firms. Larger financial institutions may have greater access to capital at lower costs, which could impair ASB’s ability to compete effectively. New or significant advances in technology (e.g., significant advances in internet or mobile banking) could render the operations of ASB less competitive or obsolete.

•The Utilities face competition from IPPs; customer self-generation, with or without cogeneration; customer energy storage; and the potential formation of community-based, cooperative ownership or municipality structures for electrical service on all islands it serves. With the exception of certain identified projects, the Utilities are required to use competitive bidding to acquire a future generation resource unless the PUC finds competitive bidding to be

20

unsuitable. The PUC sets policies for distributed generation interconnection agreements and standby rates. The results of competitive bidding, competition from IPPs, customer self-generation, and potential cooperative ownership or municipality structures for electric utility service, and the rate at which technological developments facilitating nonutility generation of electricity, combined heat and power technology, off-grid microgrids, and customer energy storage may render the operations of the Utilities less competitive or outdated and adversely affect the Utilities and the results of their operations.

Cybersecurity Risk—The Company may be subject to information technology and operational system failures, network disruptions, cyber attacks and breaches in data security that could adversely affect its businesses and reputation. The Company and its subsidiaries rely on information technology systems, some of which are managed or hosted by third party service providers, to manage its business data, communications, and other business processes. Such information technology systems may be vulnerable to cyberattacks or other security incidents, which could result in unauthorized access to confidential data or disruptions to operations. In addition, there is increasing cybersecurity risk associated with the broad adoption of a remote working environment as a result of the pandemic. If the Company is unable to prevent or adequately respond to and resolve an incident, it may have a material impact on the Company’s operations or business reputation.

Utilities. The Utilities rely on evolving and increasingly complex operational and information systems, networks and other technologies, which are interconnected with the systems and network infrastructure owned by third parties to support a variety of business processes and activities, including procurement and supply chain, invoicing and collection of payments, customer relationship management, human resource management, the acquisition, generation and delivery of electrical service to customers, and to process financial information and results of operations for internal reporting purposes and to comply with regulatory financial reporting and legal and tax requirements. The Utilities use their systems and infrastructure to create, collect, store, and process sensitive information, including personal information regarding customers, employees and their dependents, retirees, and other individuals. Despite the Utilities security measures, all of their systems are vulnerable to disability, failures or unauthorized access caused by natural disasters, cybersecurity incidents, security breaches, user error, unintentional defects created by system changes, military or terrorist actions, power or communication failures or similar events. Any such failure could have a material adverse impact on the Utilities’ ability to process transactions and provide service, as well the Utilities’ financial condition and results of operations. Further, a data breach involving theft, improper disclosure, or other unauthorized access to or acquisition of confidential information could subject the Utilities to penalties for violation of applicable privacy laws, claims by third parties, and enforcement actions by government agencies. A data breach could also reduce the value of proprietary information, and harm the reputation of the Utilities.

As noted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the utility industry is continuing to experience an increase in the frequency and sophistication of cybersecurity incidents. The Utilities’ systems have been, and will likely continue to be, a target of attacks. Further, the Utilities’ operational networks may be subject to new cybersecurity risks due to modernizing and interconnecting existing infrastructure with new technologies and control systems, including those owned by third parties. Although the Utilities have not experienced a material cybersecurity breach to date, such incidents may occur and may have a material adverse effect on the Utilities and the Company in the future. In order to address cybersecurity risks to their information systems, the Utilities maintain security measures designed to protect their information technology systems, network infrastructure and other assets. The Utilities actively monitor developments in the area of cybersecurity and are involved in various related government and industry groups, and brief the Company’s Board quarterly on relevant cybersecurity issues. Although the Utilities continue to make investments in their cybersecurity program, including personnel, technologies, cyber insurance and training of Utilities personnel, there can be no assurance that these systems or their expected functionality will be implemented, maintained, or expanded effectively; nor can security measures completely eliminate the possibility of a cybersecurity breach. The Utility maintains cyber liability insurance that covers certain damages caused by cyber incidents. However, there is no guarantee that adequate insurance will continue to be available at rates the Utility believes are reasonable or that the costs of responding to and recovering from a cyber incident will be covered by insurance or recoverable in rates. If the Utilities’ cybersecurity measures were to be breached, the Utilities could suffer financial loss, business disruptions, liability to customers, regulatory intervention or damage to their reputation.

Due to the size, scope and complexity of the Utilities’ business, the development and maintenance of information technology systems to process and track information is critical and challenging. The Utilities often rely on third-party vendors to host, maintain, modify, and update its systems and these third-party vendors could cease to exist, fail to establish adequate processes to protect the Utilities systems and information, experience supply chain compromises or other internal or external security incidents. In addition, the Utilities are pursuing complex business transformation initiatives, which include the implementation of new systems and the upgrade or replacement of existing systems. Significant system changes increase the risk of system interruptions. Although the Utilities maintain change control processes to mitigate this risk, system interruptions may occur. Further, delay or failure to complete the integration of information systems and processes may result in delays in regulatory cost recovery, or the failure to realize the benefits anticipated to be derived from these initiatives.

21

The Utilities have disaster recovery plans in place to protect their businesses from information technology service interruptions. The disaster recovery plans, however, may not be successful in preventing the loss of customer data, service interruptions and disruptions to operations or damage to important facilities. If any of these systems fail to operate properly or becomes disabled and the Utilities’ disaster recovery plans do not effectively resolve the issues in a timely manner, the Utilities could suffer financial loss, business disruptions, liability to customers, regulatory intervention or damage to their reputations, any of which could have a material adverse effect on the Utilities’ and the Company’s financial condition and results of operations.

ASB. ASB is highly dependent on its ability to process, on a daily basis, a large number of transactions and relies heavily on communication and information systems, including those of third-party vendors and other service providers. Communication and information system failures can result from a variety of risks including, but not limited to, events that are wholly or partially out of ASB’s control, such as communication line integrity, weather, terrorist acts, natural disasters, accidental disasters, unauthorized breaches of security systems, energy delivery systems, cyberattacks and other events.

ASB is under continuous threat of loss due to cyberattacks, especially as ASB continues to expand customer capabilities to utilize the Internet and other remote channels to transact business. Two of the most significant cyberattack risks that ASB faces are e-fraud and loss of sensitive customer data. Loss from e-fraud occurs when cybercriminals extract funds directly from customers’ or ASB’s accounts using fraudulent schemes that may include Internet-based funds transfers. ASB has been subject to e-fraud incidents historically. Loss of sensitive customer data are attempts to steal sensitive customer data, such as account numbers and social security numbers, through unauthorized access to computer systems, including computer hacking. Such attacks are less frequent, but could present significant reputational, legal and regulatory costs if successful. Intrusion detection and prevention systems, anti-virus software, firewalls and other general information technology controls have been put in place to detect and prevent cyberattacks or information system breaches. A disaster recovery plan has been developed in the event of a natural disaster, security breach, military or terrorist action, power or communication failure or similar event. The disaster recovery plan, however, may not be successful in preventing the loss of customer data, service interruptions, disruptions to operations or damage to important facilities. Although ASB devotes significant resources to maintain and regularly upgrade its systems and processes that are designed to protect the security of ASB’s computer systems, software, networks and other technology assets and the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information belonging to ASB and its customers, there can be no assurance that such failures, interruptions or security breaches will not occur or, if they do occur, that they will be adequately corrected by ASB or its vendors.

If any of these systems fail to operate properly or become disabled even for a brief period of time, ASB could suffer financial loss, business disruptions, liability to customers, regulatory intervention or damage to its reputation, any of which could have a material adverse effect on ASB’s and the Company’s financial condition and results of operations.

Uninsured Losses—HEI’s businesses could suffer losses that are uninsured due to a lack of affordable insurance coverage, unavailability of insurance coverage or limitations on the insurance coverage the Company does have. In the ordinary course of business, HEI and its subsidiaries purchase insurance coverages (e.g., property and liability coverages) to protect against loss of, or damage to, their properties and against claims made by third parties and employees for property damage or personal injuries. However, the protection provided by such insurance is limited in significant respects and, in some instances, there is no coverage. Some of the insurance coverages have substantial deductibles or has limits on the maximum amounts that may be recovered. In common with other companies in its line of business, the Utilities’ overhead and underground transmission and distribution systems (with the exception of substation buildings and contents), which have a replacement value roughly estimated at $8 billion, are largely not insured against loss or damage because the amount of transmission and distribution system insurance capacity is limited and the premiums are cost prohibitive. Similarly, the Utilities have no business interruption insurance as the premiums for such insurance would be cost prohibitive, particularly since the Utilities are not interconnected to other systems. If a hurricane or other uninsured catastrophic natural disaster were to occur, and if the PUC did not allow the affected Utilities to recover from ratepayers restoration costs and revenues lost from business interruption, the lost revenues and repair expenses could result in a significant decrease in HEI’s consolidated net income or in significant net losses for the affected periods.

ASB generally does not obtain credit enhancements, such as mortgagor bankruptcy insurance, but does require standard hazard and hurricane insurance and may require flood insurance for certain properties. ASB is subject to the risks of borrower defaults and bankruptcies, special hazard losses not covered by the required insurance and the insurance company’s inability to pay claims on existing policies.

Environmental Regulation—Increased federal and state environmental regulation will require an increasing commitment of resources and funds and could result in construction delays or penalties and fines for non-compliance. HEI and its subsidiaries are subject to federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations relating to air quality, water quality, hazardous substances, waste management, natural resources and health and safety, which regulate, among other matters, the operation of existing facilities, the construction and operation of new facilities and the proper cleanup and disposal of hazardous

22

and toxic wastes and substances. These laws and regulations could result in increased capital, operating, and other costs. HEI or its subsidiaries are currently involved in investigatory or remedial actions at current, former or third-party sites and there is no assurance that the Company will not incur material costs relating to these sites. In addition, compliance with these legal requirements requires the Utilities to commit significant resources and funds toward, among other things, environmental monitoring, installation of pollution control equipment and payment of emission fees. These laws and regulations, among other things, require that certain environmental permits be obtained in order to construct or operate certain facilities, and obtaining such permits can entail significant expense and cause substantial construction delays. Also, these laws and regulations may be amended from time to time, including amendments that increase the burden and cost of compliance. For example, emission and/or discharge limits may be tightened, more extensive permitting requirements may be imposed and additional substances may become regulated. In addition, significant regulatory uncertainty exists regarding the impact of federal or state greenhouse gas emission limits and reductions.

If HEI or its subsidiaries fail to comply with environmental laws and regulations, even if caused by factors beyond their control, that failure may result in civil or criminal penalties and fines or the cessation of operations that could have a material adverse on the Company’s financial condition or results of operations.

Electric utility risks.

The following risks are generally specific to Hawaiian Electric, but could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.

Regulatory Risk—Actions of the PUC are outside the control of the Utilities and could result in inadequate or untimely rate increases, in rate reductions or refunds or in unanticipated delays, expenses or writedowns in connection with the construction of new projects. The rates the Utilities are allowed to charge for their services and the timeliness of permitted rate increases are among the most important items influencing the Utilities’ results of operations, financial condition and liquidity. The PUC has broad discretion over the rates that the Utilities charge their customers. On December 23, 2020, as part of the D&O establishing a new PBR Framework, there will be a five-year Multi-year Rate Period (MRP) during which there will be no general rate cases. In the fourth year of the MRP, the PUC will comprehensively review the PBR Framework to determine if any modifications or revisions are appropriate.

Any adverse decision by the PUC concerning the level or method of determining electric utility rates at the end of the multi-year rate period including the items and amounts that may be included in rate base, the returns on equity or rate base found to be reasonable, the potential consequences of exceeding or not meeting such returns, the denial of exception project recovery applications during the multi-year rate period, adverse impact of adjustments made to the PBR Framework, decisions on recovery of exogenous items, under the PBR Framework, or any prolonged delay in rendering a decision in a rate or other proceeding could have a material adverse effect on Hawaiian Electric’s consolidated results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.

To improve the timing and certainty of the recovery of their costs, the Utilities have proposed and/or received approval of various cost recovery mechanisms, including an ECRC (changed from ECAC in 2019, now also includes a PUC-ordered risk-sharing split between ratepayers and the Utilities for fossil fuel price variations from baseline prices, with a current annual aggregate exposure cap of +/- $3.7 million), a PPAC, and pension and OPEB tracking mechanisms, as well as a decoupling mechanism, an exceptional project recovery mechanism (EPRM), formerly major project interim recovery (MPIR) adjustment mechanism, and a Renewable Energy Infrastructure Program (REIP) surcharge. A change in, or the elimination of, any of these cost recovery mechanisms, could have a material adverse effect on the Utilities. See “Regulatory mechanisms” in Electric Utility’s Business.

Under the new PBR Framework, the Utilities’ the annual revenue adjustment (ARA) includes a customer dividend consisting of a negative adjustment of 0.22% compounded annually and a flow through of the “pre-PBR” savings commitment from the management audit recommendations developed in the 2020 test year rate case. Not achieving the cost savings commitment could have a material adverse effect on the Utilities. Under the new PBR Framework, the existing PIMs continue, and the PUC established new PIMs. Not meeting the PIMs that have penalties for not achieving performance incentive goals could have a material adverse effect on the Utilities.

Based on the current operations of the Utilities and regulatory framework, including the impact of the newly approved PBR Framework, the Utilities continue to follow regulatory accounting under Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 980. Continued accounting in this manner requires that certain criteria relating to the recoverability of such costs through rates be met, including achieved financial results that support the recovery of costs. If events or circumstances should change, such that the criteria are no longer satisfied, the Utilities expect that their regulatory assets (amounting to $767 million as of December 31, 2020), net of regulatory liabilities (amounting to $960 million as of December 31, 2020), would be charged to the

23

statement of income in the period of discontinuance. See “Performance-based regulation framework” in Note 3 of the Consolidated Financial Statements.

The Utilities could be required to refund to their customers, with interest, revenues that have been or may be received under interim rate orders in their rate case proceedings and other proceedings, if and to the extent they exceed the amounts allowed in final orders.

Many public utility projects require PUC approval and various permits (e.g., environmental and land use permits) from other governmental agencies. Difficulties in obtaining, or the inability to obtain, the necessary approvals or permits, or any adverse decision or policy made or adopted, or any prolonged delay in rendering a decision, by an agency with respect to such approvals and permits, can result in significantly increased project costs or even cancellation of projects. In the event a project does not proceed, or if the PUC disallows cost recovery for all or part of a project, or if project costs exceed caps imposed by the PUC in its approval of the project, project costs may need to be written off in amounts that could result in significant reductions in Hawaiian Electric’s consolidated net income.

Weather Conditions Risk—Electric utility operations are significantly influenced by weather conditions. The Utilities’ results of operations can be affected by the weather and natural disasters. Weather conditions, particularly temperature and humidity, directly influence the demand for electricity. In addition, severe weather and natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, lava flows and lightning storms, some of which may become more severe or frequent as a result of global climate changes, can cause outages and property damage and require the Utilities to incur significant additional expenses that may not be recoverable.

Climate Change Risk—Electric utility operations may be significantly influenced by climate change. While the timing, extent and ultimate effects of climate change cannot be determined with any certainty, climate change is predicted to result in sea level rise, which could potentially impact coastal and other low-lying areas (where much of the Utilities’ electric infrastructure is sited), and could cause erosion of beaches, saltwater intrusion into aquifers and surface ecosystems, higher water tables and increased flooding and storm damage due to heavy rainfall. The effects of climate change on the weather (for example, floods, hurricanes, heat waves or drought conditions, the latter of which could increase wildfire risk), sea levels, and water availability and quality, all have the potential to materially adversely affect the results of operations, financial condition and liquidity of the Utilities. For example, severe weather and its related impacts could cause significant harm to the Utilities’ physical facilities.

Third Party Performance Risk—Electric utility operations depend heavily on third-party suppliers of fuel and purchased power. The Utilities rely on fuel suppliers and shippers, and IPPs to deliver fuel and power, respectively, in accordance with contractual agreements. Approximately 69% of the net energy generated or purchased by the Utilities in 2020 was generated from the burning of fossil fuel oil, and purchases of power by the Utilities provided about 46% of their total net energy generated and purchased for the same period. Failure or delay by fuel suppliers and shippers to provide fuel pursuant to existing contracts, or failure by a major IPP to deliver the firm capacity anticipated in its PPA, could disrupt the ability of the Utilities to deliver electricity and require the Utilities to incur additional expenses to meet the needs of their customers that may not be recoverable. In addition, as the IPP contracts near the end of their terms, there may be less economic incentive for the IPPs to make investments in their units to ensure the availability of their units. Also, as these contractual agreements end, the Utilities may not be able to purchase fuel and power on terms equivalent to the current contractual agreements.

Capacity Risk—The capacity provided by the Utilities’ generating resources and third-party purchased power may not be sufficient to meet customers’ energy requirements. The Utilities rely upon their generating resources and purchased power from third parties to meet their customers’ energy requirements. The Utilities update their generation capacity evaluation each year to determine the Utilities’ ability to meet reasonably expected demands for service and provide reasonable reserves for emergencies. These evaluations are impacted by a variety of factors, including customer energy demand, energy conservation and efficiency initiatives, economic conditions, and weather patterns. If the capacity provided by the Utilities’ generating resources and third-party purchased power is not adequate relative to customer demand, the Utilities may have to contract to buy more power from third parties, invest in additional generating facilities over the long-term, or extend the operating life of existing utility units. Any failure to meet customer energy requirements could negatively impact the satisfaction of the Utilities’ customers, which could have an adverse impact on the Utilities’ business and results of operations.

Stakeholder Activism Risk—Electric utility and third-party purchased power projects may be significantly impacted by stakeholder activism. The potential impact of stakeholder activism could increase total utility project costs, and delay the permitting, construction and overall timing or preclude the completion of third-party or utility projects that are required to meet electricity demand, resilience and reliability objectives, and RPS goals. If a utility project cannot be completed, the project costs may need to be written off in amounts that could result in significant reductions in Hawaiian Electric’s consolidated net income.

24

Operational Risk—Electric utility generating facilities are subject to operational risks that could result in unscheduled plant outages, unanticipated and/or increased operation and maintenance expenses and increased power purchase costs. Operation of electric generating facilities involves certain risks which can adversely affect energy output and efficiency levels. Included among these risks are facility shutdowns or power interruptions due to insufficient generation or a breakdown or failure of equipment or processes. In addition, operations could be negatively impacted by interruptions in fuel supply, inability to negotiate satisfactory collective bargaining agreements when existing agreements expire or other labor disputes, inability to comply with regulatory or permit requirements, disruptions in delivery of electricity, operator error and catastrophic events such as earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, fires, explosions, lava flows, floods or other similar occurrences affecting the Utilities’ generating facilities or transmission and distribution systems.

Legislative Risk—The Utilities may be adversely affected by new legislation or administrative actions. Congress, the Hawaii legislature and governmental agencies periodically consider legislation and other initiatives that could have uncertain or negative effects on the Utilities and their customers. Congress, the Hawaii legislature and governmental agencies have adopted, or are considering adopting, a number of measures that will significantly affect the Utilities, as described below.

Source: SEC EDGAR (public domain) · 10-K for the period ended 2020-12-31, filed 2021-02-26 · accession 0000354707-21-000036

Filing HTML rendered to line-structured narrative text by the shipped reducer (datafeeds.edgar_fulltext.visible_text, keep_table_headers=True): scripts and inline-XBRL headers are dropped, and table content is reduced to its short label cells — numeric table data is not rendered and is therefore not counted. The same rendering is used for every year, so a year-over-year comparison is like for like.

The text is our rendering of the filing, not a facsimile: original pagination, typography and tables are not reproduced, and the numbers live in the financial statements (FA).

The outline locates item HEADINGS in this document. Only Items 1A and 7 have certified boundaries elsewhere in the terminal (the redline and the narrative-overlap number); every span here runs from one heading found to the next heading found.

How the outline was chosen. It is the longest chain of item headings that runs forward through both the document and the standard item order: 16 headings are on that chain and 15 further heading-shaped lines are not — the table-of-contents echo of every item, cross-references and exhibit-list mentions. Each entry's length is measured from its heading to the next heading on the chain.