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Retirement benefits
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2013
Compensation and Retirement Disclosure [Abstract]  
Retirement benefits
Retirement benefits
 
Defined benefit pension and other postretirement benefit plans information.  For the first nine months of 2013, the Company contributed $62 million (primarily by the Utilities) to its pension and other postretirement benefit plans, compared to $64 million (primarily by the Utilities) in the first nine months of 2012. The Company’s current estimate of contributions to its pension and other postretirement benefit plans in 2013 is $83 million ($81 million by the Utilities, $2 million by HEI and nil by ASB), compared to $78 million ($63 million by the Utilities, $2 million by HEI and $13 million by ASB) in 2012. In addition, the Company expects to pay directly $2 million ($1 million each by the Utilities and HEI) of benefits in 2013, compared to $1 million paid in 2012.
 
On July 6, 2012, President Obama signed the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), which included provisions related to the funding and administration of pension plans. This law does not affect the Company’s accounting for pension benefits; therefore, the net periodic benefit costs disclosed for the plans were not affected. The Company elected to apply MAP-21 for 2012, which improved the plans’ Adjusted Funding Target Attainment Percentage (AFTAP) for funding and benefit distribution purposes and thereby reduced the 2012 minimum funding requirement and lifted the restrictions on accelerated distribution options (which restrictions were in effect from April 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012) for HEI and Hawaiian Electric and its subsidiaries. The effects of MAP-21 are expected to cause the minimum required funding under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA) to be less than the net periodic cost for 2013 and 2014; therefore, to satisfy the requirements of the Utilities pension and other postretirement benefits (OPEB) tracking mechanisms, the Utilities expect to contribute the net periodic cost for these years.
 
The Pension Protection Act provides that if a pension plan’s funded status falls below certain levels, more conservative assumptions must be used to value obligations under the pension plan. The HEI Retirement Plan fell below these thresholds in 2011 and the minimum required contribution for 2012 incorporated the more conservative assumptions required. However, the HEI Retirement Plan met the threshold requirements in each of 2012 and 2013 so that the more conservative assumptions do not apply for either the 2013 or 2014 valuation of plan liabilities for purposes of calculating the minimum required contribution. Other factors could cause changes to the required contribution levels.
 
The components of net periodic benefit cost for consolidated HEI were as follows:
 
 
 
Three months ended September 30
 
Nine months ended September 30
 
 
Pension benefits
 
Other benefits
 
Pension benefits
 
Other benefits
(in thousands)
 
2013
 
2012
 
2013
 
2012
 
2013
 
2012
 
2013
 
2012
Service cost
 
$
14,097

 
$
10,816

 
$
1,077

 
$
1,054

 
$
42,307

 
$
32,404

 
$
3,229

 
$
3,158

Interest cost
 
16,187

 
16,868

 
1,891

 
2,252

 
48,600

 
50,612

 
5,677

 
6,756

Expected return on plan assets
 
(18,134
)
 
(17,796
)
 
(2,531
)
 
(2,579
)
 
(54,401
)
 
(53,388
)
 
(7,614
)
 
(7,757
)
Amortization of net transition obligation
 
—

 
1

 
—

 
—

 
—

 
1

 
—

 
—

Amortization of net prior service gain
 
(24
)
 
(81
)
 
(448
)
 
(448
)
 
(73
)
 
(244
)
 
(1,345
)
 
(1,345
)
Amortization of net actuarial loss
 
9,560

 
6,425

 
398

 
373

 
28,878

 
19,251

 
1,203

 
1,125

Net periodic benefit cost
 
21,686

 
16,233

 
387

 
652

 
65,311

 
48,636

 
1,150

 
1,937

Impact of PUC D&Os
 
(9,257
)
 
(3,460
)
 
(332
)
 
(552
)
 
(28,847
)
 
(12,294
)
 
(1,018
)
 
(1,648
)
Net periodic benefit cost (adjusted for impact of PUC D&Os)
 
$
12,429

 
$
12,773

 
$
55

 
$
100

 
$
36,464

 
$
36,342

 
$
132

 
$
289


 
Consolidated HEI recorded retirement benefits expense of $24 million and $27 million in the first nine months of 2013 and 2012, respectively, and charged the remaining amounts primarily to electric utility plant.
 
The Utilities have implemented pension and OPEB tracking mechanisms under which all of their retirement benefit expenses (except for executive life and nonqualified pension plan expenses) determined in accordance with GAAP are recovered over time. Under the tracking mechanisms, these retirement benefit costs that are over/under amounts allowed in rates are charged/credited to a regulatory asset/liability. The regulatory asset/liability for each utility will be amortized over 5 years beginning with the respective utility’s next rate case.
 
Defined contribution plans information.  For the first nine months of 2013 and 2012, the Company’s expense for its defined contribution pension plans under the Hawaiian Electric Industries Retirement Savings Plan (HEIRSP) and the ASB 401(k) Plan was $3.1 million and $2.7 million, respectively, and cash contributions were $3.7 million and $3.2 million, respectively.