BUSINESS BRIEFS
1,300 file claims over blackout
Advertiser Staff
Hawaiian Electric Co. received about 1,300 claims from customers who said they suffered monetary loss because of the power failure that followed the Oct. 15 earthquakes.
Spokeswoman Lynne Une-mori said most applications were for food spoilage and that a number of people were asking for compensation because of problems with electrical equipment.
The deadline to file the claims was this week.
Hawaiian Electric's generators automatically switched off after the earthquakes, resulting in blackouts for the utility's 291,000 customers. The power was off for more than a dozen hours for many customers as Hawaiian Electric worked to bring sections of O'ahu back on line.
HECO OFFERING LIGHT-BULB DEAL
Hawaiian Electric Co. is making coupons available on the Internet for $1 to $3 off on General Electric Co. energy-saving light bulbs as part of its effort to get people to use less electricity.
People can print the coupons out at www.heco.com and use them to buy compact fluorescent light bulbs. The bulbs typically use one-fourth the energy of traditional incandescent bulbs and can last up to 10 times longer.
The coupons are good until March 31, 2007, and also can be picked up at retail stores if people without net access.
Among the participating stores with coupons are Longs Drug Stores, Foodland, Don Quijote, Marukai Mart, Times Supermarkets, City Mill and the Marine Corps Exchange Hawaii. They also will be available at 7-Eleven stores periodically, the company said.
FORECLOSURES AMONG LOWEST
Hawai'i had one of the lowest foreclosure rates in the nation in October, though the number of homes in some stage of foreclosure is rising from a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif.-based real-estate researcher.
RealtyTrac determined there were 65 properties entering some stage of foreclosure in Hawai'i last month. That worked out to one for every 7,085 households in the state, or 43rd-lowest in the country, and compared with one for every 1,001 households nationally.
The number of Hawai'i properties in foreclosure in October 2005 was 43, according to the company's data.
The company said Colorado had the highest foreclosure rate in October, with one for every 327 households.
WAIKOLOA GAINS NEW RESTAURANTS
The developer of a retail/entertainment complex at Wai-koloa Beach Resort on the Big Island has announced several new restaurants going into the project slated to open next fall.
Joining the 135,000-square-foot project called Queens' Marketplace will be Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar and an upscale Thai restaurant, Charlie's Thai Cuisine.
Other tenants, which will occupy space in a seven-stall food court, are Chinese eatery King's Kitchen; Paradise Grill, serving Mexican and local food; Queen's Deli; The Noodle House; and Arby's.
