Hawaiian Electric's rushed sale of its bank arm is drawing fire, and the losers may be fire victims and electric customers.

• Hawaiian Electric Industries sold American Savings Bank on New Year's Eve 2024 for about $450 million, under state pressure to raise cash fast.
• The bank went public last month and is now worth close to $1.2 billion — a 164% jump far beyond what other local banks have managed.
• Critics say the company left half a billion dollars on the table, money that could have paid victims and held down rates.
• Mainland investors and insiders with access to the deal walked away much richer instead.
• Hawaiian Electric says it got the maximum the market would pay, and is now asking regulators for a $170 million rate increase to fund fire prevention.

Outlook: The final hearing on the rate increase is tonight, and it is unclear whether regulators will hold the bank sale against the company.