Undersea cable project sparked NextEra Energy's interest in buying Hawaiian Electric Co.

NextEra Energy Inc., which is seeking to buy Hawaiian Electric Co. for $4.3 billion, would not be in a position to acquire Hawaii’s largest utility if the Florida energy giant had not already been doing business in the state, one of its top executives told PBN this week. Eric Gleason is president of NextEra Energy Hawaii LLC, which was formed in 2012 when the company began showing interest in laying an undersea cable that would connect the electric grids of the islands of Oahu and Maui. He told…