Electric utility (West) industry

High dividend yields have been a major rationale for the purchase of electric utility stocks by investors for many years as they were higher than those paid by other industries. However, earnings and price/earnings ratios have become more important and both the industry and investors will be paying more attention to earnings in the future. Few of these stocks are appealing to investors as returns for the next three to five years are below average in spite of lower interest rates and share prices.