NextEra announced in December that it was planning to purchase Hawaii’s major electric utility as part of a $4.3 billion deal.

The purchase includes Hawaiian Electric Co.聽on Oahu, Hawaii Electric Light Co. on the Big Island and Maui Electric Co., which serves Maui, Lanai and Molokai.

As part of the deal, American Savings Bank, a subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries, will be spun off into an independent company.

Jim Robo, chairman and CEO of NextEra Energy, stands beside Connie Lau, president and CEO of Hawaiian Electric Industries, at a press conference announcing the $4.3 billion merger.

Cory Lum/Civil Beat

The聽purchase still has to be approved by Hawaii’s Public Utilities Commission and HEI shareholders. The PUC has indicated that it may not rule on the deal until the middle of next year. Meanwhile, more than two dozen entities, including solar trade groups, county and state agencies and other energy companies have intervened in the quasi-judicial proceedings taking place before the PUC.

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The man, whose name was not released, was wearing dark-colored clothing, running in the middle of the roadway and acting erratically in an area of King Street fronting Iolani Palace, according to police.

Honolulu Police Department officers along Kalakaua Avenue during聽the Honolulu Festival parade earlier this month.

Cory Lum/Civil Beat

“The male refused to leave the roadway, continuously running away and evading the officers as they approached him. 聽OC pepper spray was used but was ineffective as the male continued to remain on the roadway,” according to the release. “An electric gun was deployed twice but was also ineffective. 聽The male tripped and fell while trying to run away, at which time officers were able to gain control of the combative male and placed him under arrest. 聽The male was escorted to the sidewalk when he suddenly became unresponsive.”

The man was later taken to Queens Medical Center in an ambulance where police say he died.

It’s not clear what caused the man’s death. Rade Vanic, a captain with the Honolulu Police Department, said no further details about the circumstances surrounding the death are being released at this time.

Since 1994, Hawaii聽police have killed at least 36 people and sent thousands聽more to local emergency rooms with various injuries, according to past Civil Beat reporting.

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, a local nonprofit, was hosting a forum at The Plaza Club with Ige, Luis Salaveria, the new director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism and Ford Fuchigami, the new director of the Department of Transportation.

Officials were there to 鈥渟hare their plans for Hawaii鈥檚 clean energy future.鈥� Moderating the event was Asia Yeary of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Screenshot, The Plaza Club

Screenshot, The Plaza Club

It鈥檚 a particularly interesting time for the state with the pending sale聽of Hawaiian Electric Co. to Florida-based NextEra Energy, squabbles over the future of rooftop solar and a slew of utility-scale renewable energy projects poised to dot the Oahu landscape. And the forum seemed like a good opportunity to learn more about the views of some of our top government officials.

However, it was not to be. Yvette Maskrey, a WiRE board member and president of Honeywell International, was in the midst of announcing Ige to a room of attendees feasting on breakfast, when she apparently spotted a Civil Beat reporter in the doorway and decided to take the time to review the forum鈥檚 press policy, or no press policy, rather.

In the interest of cultivating an 鈥渙pen鈥� discussion, she said press are banned from events hosted by Women in Renewable Energy. Nothing that鈥檚 uttered in The Plaza Club, located atop Pioneer Plaza and , was to leave the room, she said.

Indeed, The Plaza Club is a private club and Women in Renewable Energy have the right to keep their forums closed to the media. Still, it seems like a peculiar stance to try to muzzle news of what government officials have to say about聽public policy matters, particularly for a nonprofit that seeks to promote education around clean energy issues.

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