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Utilities’ investment plans require regulatory consistency to be successful. And for Conservative Holding WEC Energy Group (NYSE: WEC), November election results were pretty close to optimal for its $20.1 billion, 5-year CAPEX plan, increased this month from $17.7 billion.

When the October issue of CUI posted, the Dow Jones Utility Average was underwater nearly -10 percent for the year. Now it’s close to even including dividends. That strong recovery also shows up in a brief scan of stock prices in this month’s Conservative Holdings, Aggressive Holdings and Top 10 DRIP tables. But it wasn’t exactly a buy everything moment either.

Wireline communications company Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) eliminated its quarterly cash dividend this month. That brings total year-to-date cuts in the Utility Report Card coverage universe to nine.

Political parties are usually well down the list of reasons for bull and bear markets. But elections do have consequences, particularly in heavily regulated industries like utilities and energy.

The 2022 bear market for stocks and bonds entered a new, more destructive phase last month, following the Federal Reserve’s 75 basis point increase in the Fed Funds rate. And there’s every indication things will get worse before they improve.

Since the beginning of 2022, the Japanese Yen has dropped by almost -20 percent against the US dollar. That’s shrunk a 29.8 percent year-to-date local market gain in shares of dominant Japanese telecom Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (Tokyo: 9432, OTC: NTTYY) to a return of just 1.3 percent in US dollar terms.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance reports wind and solar power combined produced 10.5 percent of global electricity in 2021. They also accounted for a record 75 percent generating capacity entering service. And output will grow another 8 percent this year to nearly 320 GW, according to the International Energy Agency.

Utilities have been dropping for roughly a month. And despite the sector’s robust long-term outlook, it’s likely we’ll see lower prices still in the coming weeks.

This year is shaping up as a banner one for dividend increases in the Utility Report Card coverage universe. So far, 103 of the 179 companies tracked have raised their payouts at least once. And I count roughly three-dozen more that will almost certainly deliver a boost between now and December 31.