Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. Announces Proposed Registered Offering of Common Stock

Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HE) announced today that it plans to offer 4,250,000 shares of its common stock (or 4,887,500 shares if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a registered public offering. HEI intends to use the net proceeds from the sale to repay its outstanding short-term indebtedness consisting of borrowings under its line of credit facility and commercial paper borrowings and to make loans to its subsidiary, Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. ("HECO”), principally to permit HECO to repay a portion of its outstanding commercial paper borrowings. The proceeds of HECO’s commercial paper borrowings were partly used to finance HECO’s ongoing capital expenditure programs.

Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated is the sole book-running manager for the offering. Goldman, Sachs & Co., Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated and D.A. Davidson & Co. are co-managers for the offering.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction to any person to whom it is unlawful to make an offer, solicitation or sale in such jurisdiction. The offering may be made by means of a prospectus and a related prospectus supplement, copies of which may be obtained when available from Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated, c/o Prospectus Department, 180 Varick Street 2/F, New York, New York 10014 or by email at prospectus@morganstanley.com.

Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements herein constitute "forward-looking statements,” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated, including the changing of regional and national economic conditions, changes in the real estate market, changes in levels of market interest rates, credit risks on lending activities, and competitive and regulatory factors. All forward-looking statements are necessarily speculative and undue reliance should not be placed on any such statements, which are accurate only as of the date made. HEI disclaims any duty to update such forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements in this release should be read in conjunction with the "Forward-Looking Statements” discussion (which is incorporated by reference herein) set forth on pages iv and v of HEI’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2008, and in HEI’s future periodic reports that discuss important factors that could cause HEI’s results to differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.