NextEra Energy and Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. will host four community meetings on the Big Island to discuss the companies’ pending merger.
The meetings will “introduce residents to NextEra Energy and the benefits of the companies’ pending merger as well as to provide members of the public with the opportunity to provide input directly to company officials,” NextEra said in a media release issued Monday. On hand will be senior leaders and other employees from both companies.
The companies announced in late 2014 that Florida-based NextEra plans to acquire Hawaiian Electric to expand clean energy in Hawaii. Hawaiian Electric Co., Hawaii Electric Light Co., and Maui Electric Co. are all subsidiaries of Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc.
The four Big Island meetings are among 13 being held statewide between April 7 and April 16. The first two Big Island meetings are slated April 13 and will be held in East Hawaii at the Hilo High School cafeteria and Pahoa High School cafeteria. The second set of meetings are planned for April 14 in West Hawaii and will be held at Kealakehe High School’s cafeteria and Hawaii Preparatory Academy’s Village Campus Dining Hall. Each meeting will run from 5 to 8 p.m.
NextEra is one of the country’s largest electrical utilities and owns through its subsidiaries a major wind and solar energy company. Hawaiian Electric supplies power to 95 percent of Hawaii’s population through its four electric utilities.