Nearly 2 million electricity customers across Florida remained without power Friday, a modest improvement from the day before as the state looks to recover from Category 4 Hurricane Ian, a storm tagged as one of the worst ever to hit that part of the U.S. In a Friday alert, there were 1,933,573 customers without power statewide, reflecting 17% of all customers, according to the state’s Public Service Commission.
For at least one fund manager dedicated to picking attractive utility stocks, how publicly-traded and highly-regulated companies prepare for and quickly react to storms like the powerful Ian can be one valuable test for selecting individual utility stocks, mutual funds or exchange-traded funds that draw heavily from the sector, to round out a portfolio. Utilities are often sought out for their dividends. Read: Lost Sanibel causeway and ‘reversed’ Tampa Bay: Why Ian will rank among worst hurricanes in Florida history “There is no doubt [Florida’s] electric system has suffered serious damage and that customers will be without power for a significant amount of time. That said, residents should draw some solace that we believe the NextEra
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-owned Florida Power & Light is the best managed utility in America, particularly as it pertains to storm recovery,” said John Bartlett, president of Reaves Asset Management. NextEra was down some 1% Friday and trades about unchanged from whe …