S&P Downgrades Hawaiian Electric to Brink of Junk, Conservation, Regulatory Lag Blamed
From Wall Street Journal
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services cut its rating on Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. (HE) and its electric utility subsidiaries by one notch to the brink of junk.
In downgrading the Hawaiian power company and lender to BBB-, S&P said it had little hope for improvement in the "aggressive" financial profile of its subsidiary, Hawaiian Electric Co.--which serves the island of Oahu--over the next several years, according to credit analyst Anne Selting.
"The global recession, which hit island tourism particularly hard in 2008, (Thanks, Obama) is contributing to sideways performance by shrinking electric sales that had already been in decline due to island conservation efforts (Thank You Sierra Club)," the agency said….
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