Exhibit 31.1

Certification Pursuant to Section 13a-14 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 of Constance H. Lau (HEI Chief Executive Officer)

I, Constance H. Lau, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this report on Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2012 of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report.