March electricity bills to fall on Oahu

Electricity bills for households on Maui and the Big Island are expected to increase slightly, but decline for those on Oahu in March.

The typical Oahu bill (a household using an average of 600 kilowatt-hours of electricity) should be at $118.71 this month, which is $4.87 less than February, based on rates revealed yesterday by Hawaiian Electric Co.

On Maui, however, the average residential bill will be higher at $147.17, which is up $3.93 from February. Still, it is a more than $100 decrease from the high point reached in September.

For Big Island residents, the average residential bill will be $195.96, up $4.09 from February.

Basic rates, plus fuel and other charges, were at 18.3 cents/kwh for Oahu, 23.2 cents/kwh for Maui, and 30.8 cents/kwh for the Big Island.

State bankruptcies hit 3-year high

Hawaii bankruptcies soared 60.3 percent in February over the year-ago period as the number of filings in the state reached the highest level in more than three years.

The 226 filings last month were the most since October 2005 when the federal law changed to make it more difficult and costly to seek financial protection. There were 1,463 filings that month. Statewide bankruptcies through the first two months of this year were down 79.1 percent from the same time in 2008. Last month, Chapter 7 filings, which involve liquidations, rose 59.3 percent and Chapter 13 filings, which allow individuals to set up plans to pay creditors over time, increased 56.5 percent.

A&B Properties buys 2 facilities

A&B Properties, the real estate arm of Alexander & Baldwin Inc., has acquired two commercial distribution parks, including one in Waipio, for an undisclosed price. The first property is the 252,000-square-foot Activity Distribution Center in a strong industrial submarket of San Diego. The center offers four buildings and is fully leased. The second property is the 158,000-square-foot Waipio Gentry Portfolio in Gentry Business Park, which offers five buildings and is 98 percent leased.