Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc.’s earnings bumped up 6 percent in the first quarter as its bank subsidiary made up for a lower profit at its utilities.

HEI, parent company of American Savings Bank and three major electrical utilities in the state, said Friday its first-quarter earnings rose to $34.2 million, or 31 cents a share, from $32.4 million, or 30 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. HEI’s revenue increased 7 percent to $591.6 million from $551 million.

American Savings Bank earnings jumped nearly 25 percent in the first quarter to $15.8 million from $12.7 million in the year-earlier quarter. The increase was due to strong growth in its investments and deposits.

“At the bank we’re off to a strong start, and had excellent deposit growth, increased net interest income and higher net interest margin along with improved operating efficiency,” said Connie Lau, HEI president and chief executive officer, during the company’s earnings call.

HEI’s electrical utility subsidiaries — Hawaiian Electric Co. on Oahu, Hawaii Electric Light Co. on the Big Island and Maui Electric Co. — reported a combined 15 percent decrease in net income for the quarter. Together the three utilities earned $21.5 million compared with $25.4 million in the first quarter of 2016. The electrical utilities’ revenue grew 8 percent to $518.6 million, from $482.0 million in 2016.

Higher expenses related to fuel prices and independent power producers pulled HECO’s revenue lower.

The electrical utility spent an additional $41.8 million on power in the first quarter of 2017 compared with the same period in 2016.

Fuel oil cost the company $144.3 million during the quarter compared with $113.7 million in the year-ago period. The higher cost follows the average price per barrel rising from the year-earlier period, up to $65.85 a barrel from $53.99 a barrel in 2016.

Power purchased from independent power producers also increased in 2017 compared with the year earlier. The electrical utility spent $127.1 million in the first quarter on purchased power compared with $115.9 million in the year-earlier period.

Some independent power producers that are contracted with the utility include AES Hawaii, a coal-fired facility in Kapolei, and the Kahuku Wind facility on the North Shore.

Lau said the utility has been working to add more renewable resources to its portfolio.

“We continue to be leaders in the transformation to clean energy and are making significant grid upgrades to become more renewable-ready and to increase resilience and reliability,” Lau said in the earnings call. “As of the first quarter 2017, we achieved an energy portfolio powered by over 26 percent renewable resources and are expected to exceed the 2020 (renewable portfolio standards) goal of 30 percent.”

Also during the earnings call, HEI executives addressed a change in leadership at the state agency that regulates electrical utilities in Hawaii. State senators April 28 denied Tom Gorak, Gov. David Ige’s appointee, to be a Public Utilities Commission member. Gorak had been serving as an interim commissioner since June.

Alan Oshima, president and CEO at HECO, said the rejection to confirm Gorak as a member of the PUC will not have an impact on the timing of the utility’s request to regulators to increase rates on Oahu and the Big Island.

HECO on Oahu requested in December to increase revenue by $106 million annually. Approval would result in typical residential customer bills on Oahu using 500 kilowatt-hours per month to increase $8.71 a month based on the bills in December.

HELCO requested an increase of $19.3 million, or 6.5 percent, in September. If approved, a typical residential customer on Hawaii island using 500 kilowatt-hours per month will see a $9.31 monthly bill increase.

Gorak’s final day was Thursday, leaving the PUC with only two commissioners.

“The commission can operate with two signatories, two commissioners,” Oshima said. “And over the year, two years, Chair (Randy) Iwase has increased staffing at the commission to be able to be more responsive to the large number of applications that have been filed. So, we don’t see any indication that things would slow down.”