The higher profit, equal to 71 cents a share compared with 65 cents a share in the 1995 quarter, came from higher electricity use at the utility subsidiaries, caused by a growth in tourism and a hot-weather boost to air conditioner use, the company said.

HEI had revenues of $347.2 million in the three months ending June 30, up 8.5 percent from $319.9 million in last year's second quarter. Operating income at the utilities was $43.4 million in the latest period, up 13.3 percent from $38.3 million a year ago. Electricity revenues of $265 million were up 8.4 percent from $244.5 million in the 1995 quarter.

Temperatures on Oahu for 1996 through June were higher than the 20-year average, the company said.

The American Savings Bank subsidiary, HEI's second-biggest business, produced a second-quarter operating profit of $10.2 million, up 4.1 percent from $9.8 million a year earlier. Savings bank revenues of $66.3 million were up 7.6 percent from $61.1 million in the 1995 quarter.

American Savings had a lower spread between the interest it pays to attract deposits and the interest income it makes from loans, HEI said.

Other HEI operations, including the Young Brothers/Hawaiian Tug & Barge interisland shipping business, lost $2.2 million compared with a loss of $2.1 million a year earlier. HEI said lower revenues cut into profits in its maritime business but the company's operating loss in residential real estate was reduced by selling a downtown Honolulu property to a developer.

The company continued to incur start-up expenses in its international power subsidiary, which is working on electricity generating developments around the Pacific.

At an informational briefing session at Skygate sculpture on the grounds of Honolulu Hale tomorrow at 10 a.m., Heco plans to detail its $36 million program that is intended to encourage the use of new solar-powered and other high-efficiency water heaters.

Of the total, $24 million is for residents of existing homes and apartments and $12 million is for developers of new residential construction on a first-come, first-served basis.

The program's goal is to promote installation of 20,000 new solar panel water-heating systems in Hawaii in order to reduce energy consumption and defer the construction of expensive new power plants, said Jay Mulki, manager of Heco's energy services department.

Heco will provide $800 rebates for each new solar panel system installed, $130 to $300 for each new heat pump, and $40 to $70 for each high-efficiency water heater. According to Heco, details of the program include:

• Participants must be Heco customers.

• The system must be installed in a dwelling that is occupied year-round.

• Participants must complete and sign a Heco co-payment application form to get the rebate paid to the contractor who deducts that amount from the bill.

• Participants must deal with a Heco-approved contractor using approved solar systems and have a Heco inspection. (Installation of high-efficiency water heaters must be done by contractors with the proper state license but do not have to be on the Heco-approved list, the company said.)

• The program is not open to those Heco customers who already have a solar-powered water heating system or want to upgrade their solar equipment to a new or larger system.