Hawaii PUC votes down NextEra bid for Hawaiian Electric

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The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission on Friday rejected a bid by NextEra Energy, Inc. to purchase Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc., stating that the company had not demonstrated that its application was in the public interest.

The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission on Friday rejected a bid by NextEra Energy, Inc. to purchase Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc., stating that the company had not demonstrated that its application was in the public interest.

The proposed $4.3 million purchase required approval from the PUC, whose decision came more than a year and a half after NextEra first announced its plans to buy HEI.

According to a release from the PUC, the group determined that the benefits to ratepayers, such as rate credits, put forth in the NextEra and HEI applications were “inadequate and uncertain.”

See Saturday’s edition of the Tribune-Herald for further coverage.