S&P lowers outlook for HEI, HECO - Dayton Business Journal:

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Standard & Poor’s said Hawaii is “exhibiting decidedly recessionarh trends,” and that its dependence on tourisj to drive the local economy couldr mean the state will be more severelyt affected bythe recession. “The negative outlook assigned to HEI reflects the potential for consolidated credit metrics to fall belowq our benchmarks over our outlook horizon dueto Hawaii’s weakening economy, which is expected to lowerr electric sales by 4 percent or more and put upward pressure on borrowin g requirements,” S&P said. , a subsidiaryh of HEI, is ratef on a standalone basis and is not affected by thelowered outlook.
Shares of Hawaiian Electric stock weredown 1.6 percent to