•
the suspension, material reduction or extended delay in dividends or other distributions from one or more operating subsidiaries to HEI;
•
further downgrades by securities rating agencies in their ratings of the securities of HEI and Hawaiian Electric and their impact on results of financing efforts;
•
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;
•
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 our subsidiary, American Savings Bank, F.S.B. (“ASB”), which could result in higher loan loss provisions and write-offs); decisions concerning the extent of the presence of the federal government and military in Hawaii; the implications and potential impacts of future federal government shutdowns, including the impact to the Utilities’ customers’ ability 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 ability to adequately address risks and capitalize on opportunities related to the Company’s and the Utilities’ environmental, social and governance priority areas, which include safety, reliability and resilience, including relating to wildfires and other extreme weather events, decarbonization, economic health and affordability, secure digitalization, diversity, equity and inclusion, employee engagement, and climate-related risks and opportunities;
•
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 their facilities in an effective and safe manner, and citizen or stakeholder activism that could delay the construction, increase project costs or preclude the completion of third-party or Utility projects that are required to meet electricity demand, resilience and reliability objectives and renewable portfolio standards (“RPS”) and other climate-related 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 resilience and reliability and cost of the Company’s and Utilities’ operations, collateral underlying ASB loans 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, or higher borrowing costs;
•
changes in interest rates and market liquidity, as well as the magnitude of such changes, which may reduce interest margins, impact funding sources, alter valuations and affect the ability to originate and distribute financial products in the primary and secondary markets;
•
the continued 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 potential higher cost of such financings, if available;