I've excluded the troubled Texas Utility threesome of Dynegy, Energy Future Holdings, and GenOn. I also excluded Constellation Energy, which has been acquired by Exelon.
These 63 Largest Utility Corps generated Total Net Income of $35.3 bil in 2007. Then when the financial meltdown hit in late 2008, these total earnings dropped by 7% to $32.7 bil in 2008, and then dropped by another 3% to $31.9 bil in 2009. Since then, these total earnings have recovered to $35.3 bil in 2010 and a bit further to $35.8 in 2011.
As you can see, Utility Corp earnings are relatively stable.
But these earnings were negatively impacted by the 2008 financial meltdown, and then this negative impact on earnings was recouped after the Obama Administration and the Fed both did fine jobs fixing, to a large extent, the very troubled US financial system, which in late 2008 and early 2009 was headed for economic collapse.
Below here are the Audited After-tax Net Income of these 63 Largest Utility Corps for each of the most recent five years.
| 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | |||
| Reported | Reported | Reported | Reported | Reported | |||
| Audited | Audited | Audited | Audited | Audited | |||
| After-Tax | After-Tax | After-Tax | After-Tax | After-Tax | |||
| City | State | Net Income | Net Income | Net Income | Net Income | Net Income | |
| HQs | HQs | (Loss) | (Loss) | (Loss) | (Loss) | (Loss) | |
| mil $s | mil $s | mil $s | mil $s | mil $s | |||
| Big Utility Corps | |||||||
| Exelon | Chicago | IL | 2,495 | 2,563 | 2,707 | 2,717 | 2,726 |
| Southern Co | Atlanta | GA | 2,268 | 2,040 | 1,708 | 1,807 | 1,782 |
| Nextera Energy | Juno Beach | FL | 1,923 | 1,957 | 1,615 | 1,639 | 1,312 |
| Duke Energy | Charlotte | NC | 1,713 | 1,320 | 1,073 | 1,275 | 1,524 |
| American Electric Power | Columbus | OH | 1,576 | 1,218 | 1,370 | 1,376 | 1,153 |
| AES | Arlington | VA | 1,541 | 1,470 | 1,804 | 1,835 | 564 |
| PPL | Allentown | PA | 1,510 | 976 | 433 | 877 | 1,022 |
| Dominion Resources | Richmond | VA | 1,426 | 2,980 | 1,278 | 1,660 | 2,661 |
| Sempra Energy | San Diego | CA | 1,407 | 733 | 1,122 | 1,068 | 1,118 |
| Public Service Enterprise Group | Newark | NJ | 1,407 | 1,557 | 1,594 | 918 | 1,274 |
| Entergy | New Orleans | LA | 1,367 | 1,270 | 1,251 | 1,241 | 1,160 |
| MidAmerican Energy | Des Moines | IA | 1,352 | 1,310 | 1,188 | 1,871 | 1,219 |
| Consolidated Edison | New York | NY | 1,062 | 1,003 | 879 | 933 | 936 |
| First Energy | Akron | OH | 869 | 718 | 856 | 1,339 | 1,312 |
| PG&E | San Francisco | CA | 858 | 1,113 | 1,234 | 1,198 | 1,020 |
| Xcel Energy | Minneapolis | MN | 841 | 752 | 686 | 646 | 576 |
| CenterPoint Energy | Houston | TX | 770 | 442 | 372 | 446 | 395 |
| DTE Energy | Detroit | MI | 720 | 639 | 535 | 531 | 791 |
| Progress Energy | Raleigh | NC | 587 | 867 | 840 | 778 | 702 |
| PacifiCorp | Portland | OR | 555 | 566 | 550 | 465 | 445 |
| Ameren | St Louis | MO | 526 | 151 | 624 | 644 | 656 |
| Wisconsin Energy | Milwaukee | WI | 513 | 454 | 376 | 355 | 332 |
| EQT | Pittsburgh | PA | 480 | 228 | 157 | 256 | 257 |
| CMS Energy | Jackson | MI | 415 | 366 | 220 | 301 | (120) |
| Northeast Utilities | Springfield | MA | 401 | 394 | 336 | 266 | 251 |
| SCANA | Cayce | SC | 387 | 376 | 357 | 353 | 327 |
| ONCOR Electric Delivery | Dallas | TX | 367 | 352 | 320 | (487) | 327 |
| OGE Energy | Oklahoma City | OK | 364 | 300 | 261 | 237 | 245 |
| Pinnacle West Capital | Phoenix | AZ | 356 | 345 | 256 | 277 | 302 |
| Alliant Energy | Madison | WI | 321 | 308 | 129 | 298 | 444 |
| UGE Corp | King of Prussia | PA | 308 | 356 | 382 | 305 | 311 |
| American Water Works | Voorhees | NJ | 305 | 255 | (220) | (529) | (323) |
| NiSource | Merrillville | IN | 304 | 285 | 230 | 363 | 322 |
| TECO Energy | Tampa | FL | 273 | 240 | 214 | 162 | 317 |
| PEPCO Holdings | Washington | DC | 260 | 139 | 223 | 183 | 264 |
| National Fuel Gas | Williamsville | NY | 258 | 219 | 103 | 267 | 201 |
| Nstar Electric | Boston | MA | 252 | 249 | 241 | 224 | 217 |
| Westar Energy | Topeka | KS | 236 | 209 | 141 | 178 | 168 |
| Integrys Energy Group | Chicago | IL | 231 | 224 | (70) | 115 | 181 |
| Questar | Salt Lake City | UT | 208 | 192 | 181 | 172 | 146 |
| NRG Energy | Princeton | NJ | 197 | 476 | 941 | 1,053 | 556 |
| CLECO | Pineville | LA | 196 | 255 | 106 | 102 | 151 |
| PNM Resources | Albuquerque | NM | 191 | (31) | 66 | (298) | 60 |
| AGL Resources | Atlanta | GA | 186 | 250 | 249 | 237 | 241 |
| Great Plains Energy | Kansas City | MO | 174 | 212 | 152 | 120 | 121 |
| ITC Holdings | Novi | MI | 172 | 146 | 131 | 109 | 73 |
| Idacorp | Boise | ID | 167 | 142 | 124 | 98 | 82 |
| NV Energy | Las Vegas | NV | 163 | 227 | 183 | 209 | 197 |
| Portland General Electric | Portland | OR | 147 | 121 | 89 | 87 | 145 |
| Aqua America | Bryn Mawr | PA | 145 | 118 | 100 | 94 | 90 |
| Vectren | Evansville | IN | 142 | 134 | 133 | 129 | 143 |
| Hawaiian Electric Industries | Honolulu | HI | 140 | 115 | 85 | 92 | 85 |
| Puget Energy | Bellevue | WA | 123 | 30 | 187 | 155 | 185 |
| WGL Holdings | Washington | DC | 117 | 110 | 120 | 117 | 108 |
| Piedmont Natural Gas | Charlotte | NC | 114 | 142 | 123 | 110 | 104 |
| Southwest Gas | Las Vegas | NV | 112 | 103 | 87 | 61 | 83 |
| UNS Energy | Tucson | AZ | 110 | 113 | 106 | 17 | 61 |
| Avista | Spokane | WA | 104 | 95 | 89 | 75 | 39 |
| El Paso Electric | El Paso | TX | 104 | 90 | 67 | 78 | 75 |
| New Jersey Resources | Wall | NJ | 101 | 117 | 27 | 109 | 63 |
| IPALCO Enterprises | Indianapolis | IN | 61 | 80 | 74 | 75 | 125 |
| Edison International | Rosemead | CA | 24 | 1,303 | 952 | 1,348 | 1,307 |
| Calpine | Houston | TX | (190) | (162) | 114 | (26) | 2,666 |
| Total all 63 Largest Utility Corps | 35,812 | 35,322 | 31,861 | 32,711 | 35,277 | ||
| Annual Percentage Change | 1% | 11% | -3% | -7% | |||
| Three Year (2008-2011) Earnings Increase Under Obama | |||||||
| …..Amount | 3,101 | ||||||
| …..Percentage | 9% | ||||||
Which takes us to Utility Corp stock prices since President Obama took office.
Of these 63 Utility Corps, 56 of them had their common stock trading on both January 16, 2009, which is the last day stocks traded before President Obama took office, and also yesterday, Tuesday, October 23, 2012.
I retrieved all of the below stock market closing price information from the excellent Big Charts.com website.
These 56 Largest Utility Corps had an average stock market price increase of an incredibly high 47% since President Obama took office on January 20, 2009.
And this amazing 47% average stock market price increase during the Obama Administration is significantly understated in real terms since it does not include the huge amount of cash dividends Utility Corp investors have received in the past 15 quarters of the Obama Administration.
Investors buy Utility Stocks mainly for the robust cash dividends they receive, not for longer-term stock price appreciation.
And yeah, the Obama Administration did play a key role in this massive Utility Corp stock price increase.
Just like the common stock of all companies, Utility Stocks were hit hard by the 2008 financial meltdown, where panic was so widespread, and economic collapse anticipated by many.
With its wise actions to fix the broken US financial system, the Obama Administration substantially reduced the elevated risk which was in Utility Stocks after the 2008 financial collapse, thereby increasing their stock prices.
Further, with the Obama Administration working closely with the Fed, interest rates were substantially reduced, thereby significantly benefiting Utility Corps, which have a very heavy debt load due to their substantial investments in Property, Plant and Equipment. Thus, Utility Corps are now able to borrow at much cheaper interest rates.
All Utility Corp executives, all of their employees, their Boards of Directors, and their stockholders have to all be very happy with the stock market performance of their many fine Utility companies during the Obama Administration.
And these same US citizens also must be very pleased with how the Obama Administration worked so hard and very effectively on so many fronts to fix the clearly broken US financial system and to also create a US economic environment that permitted companies to flat out flourish. This highly successful effort created a robust US economic environment which was quite a change from what existed in the just horrible financial meltdown, near Depression year of 2008.
Below here are the common stock market closing prices of each of these 56 Largest US Utility Corps at both the most recent date, and also at the date just before President Obama took office, as well as the percentage stock market price changes for this period of time.
| Market | Market | Percentage | |||
| City | State | Price | Price | Increase | |
| HQs | HQs | 10-23-12 | 1-16-09 | (Decrease) | |
| Big Utility Corps | |||||
| NiSource | Merrillville | IN | $25.08 | $10.71 | 134% |
| OGE Energy | Oklahoma City | OK | $56.82 | $24.57 | 131% |
| Calpine | Houston | TX | $17.90 | $7.83 | 129% |
| CMS Energy | Jackson | MI | $23.97 | $11.26 | 113% |
| PNM Resources | Albuquerque | NM | $21.76 | $10.67 | 104% |
| CLECO | Pineville | LA | $42.29 | $22.36 | 89% |
| Questar | Salt Lake City | UT | $20.37 | $10.88 | 87% |
| ITC Holdings | Novi | MI | $77.43 | $41.51 | 87% |
| El Paso Electric | El Paso | TX | $33.74 | $18.13 | 86% |
| National Fuel Gas | Williamsville | NY | $52.85 | $29.11 | 82% |
| NV Energy | Las Vegas | NV | $18.56 | $10.35 | 79% |
| American Water Works | Voorhees | NJ | $36.50 | $20.45 | 78% |
| Wisconsin Energy | Milwaukee | WI | $37.87 | $21.41 | 77% |
| EQT | Pittsburgh | PA | $58.10 | $33.00 | 76% |
| DTE Energy | Detroit | MI | $60.74 | $34.75 | 75% |
| Southwest Gas | Las Vegas | NV | $43.53 | $25.09 | 73% |
| CenterPoint Energy | Houston | TX | $21.04 | $12.74 | 65% |
| Northeast Utilities | Springfield | MA | $39.05 | $23.79 | 64% |
| Pinnacle West Capital | Phoenix | AZ | $52.86 | $32.65 | 62% |
| Alliant Energy | Madison | WI | $44.65 | $27.87 | 60% |
| Sempra Energy | San Diego | CA | $67.76 | $43.71 | 55% |
| Xcel Energy | Minneapolis | MN | $27.89 | $18.28 | 53% |
| Dominion Resources | Richmond | VA | $52.69 | $34.60 | 52% |
| Idacorp | Boise | ID | $44.46 | $29.51 | 51% |
| Consolidated Edison | New York | NY | $59.70 | $40.07 | 49% |
| Westar Energy | Topeka | KS | $29.45 | $20.02 | 47% |
| UNS Energy | Tucson | AZ | $42.20 | $28.84 | 46% |
| Portland General Electric | Portland | OR | $27.44 | $18.77 | 46% |
| TECO Energy | Tampa | FL | $17.59 | $12.09 | 45% |
| Duke Energy | Charlotte | NC | $64.99 | $45.06 | 44% |
| Nextera Energy | Juno Beach | FL | $70.76 | $49.83 | 42% |
| SCANA | Cayce | SC | $48.39 | $34.21 | 41% |
| Edison International | Rosemead | CA | $46.80 | $33.23 | 41% |
| American Electric Power | Columbus | OH | $44.62 | $32.50 | 37% |
| Southern Co | Atlanta | GA | $46.20 | $35.03 | 32% |
| UGI Corp | King of Prussia | PA | $32.26 | $24.75 | 30% |
| AGL Resources | Atlanta | GA | $39.86 | $31.32 | 27% |
| Avista | Spokane | WA | $25.03 | $19.82 | 26% |
| AES | Arlington | VA | $10.73 | $8.56 | 25% |
| Integrys Energy Group | Chicago | IL | $53.80 | $43.15 | 25% |
| Aqua America | Bryn Mawr | PA | $24.87 | $20.02 | 24% |
| WGL Holdings | Washington | DC | $38.93 | $32.41 | 20% |
| Hawaiian Electric Industries | Honolulu | HI | $25.77 | $21.80 | 18% |
| Great Plains Energy | Kansas City | MO | $22.36 | $19.12 | 17% |
| New Jersey Resources | Wall | NJ | $44.68 | $38.27 | 17% |
| Piedmont Natural Gas | Charlotte | NC | $31.52 | $27.26 | 16% |
| PEPCO Holdings | Washington | DC | $19.81 | $17.30 | 15% |
| PG&E | San Francisco | CA | $42.18 | $37.60 | 12% |
| Vectren | Evansville | IN | $28.87 | $25.88 | 12% |
| Public Service Enterprise Group | Newark | NJ | $32.18 | $30.97 | 4% |
| Ameren | St Louis | MO | $32.48 | $32.47 | 0% |
| NRG Energy | Princeton | NJ | $22.40 | $23.86 | -6% |
| PPL | Allentown | PA | $29.56 | $32.12 | -8% |
| Entergy | New Orleans | LA | $70.31 | $77.11 | -9% |
| First Energy | Akron | OH | $45.53 | $50.03 | -9% |
| Exelon | Chicago | IL | $36.26 | $54.80 | -34% |
| Average Increase: All 56 Largest Utility Corps | 47% | ||||
It should be pointed out that the above earlier period stock price of Duke Energy has been adjusted to reflect the effect of a one-for-three reverse stock split.
