Badger meter is popping a nice 9% today on strong Q2 earnings. Compared to Q2 of 2007, Q2 2008 sales are up 20.1%, net earnings up 28.8%, and EPS up 26.3%. These results are in the face of what appeared to be a challenging environment for utility and industrial component suppliers.

Coming into July, we were riding the Natural Gas high like we had a straight shot to the moon, especially off big shale announcements like Chesapeake (CHK)’s Haynesville Shale venture.

Consolidated Edison, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides electric, gas, and steam utility services in the United States serving parts of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Linked here is a detailed stock analysis of ED and commentary.

ABB finally made the move I’d hope they make!

Basin Water Inc. designs, builds, implements, and services systems that treat contaminated groundwater and wastewater, and provide for waste reduction, and resource recovery. The company has their own ion-exchange system that treats groundwater contamination at the wellhead. With headquarters in Rancho Cucamonga, California, they are part of the Water Utilities industry and list on NASDAQ.

The Water Utilities Industry has declined by almost 20% compared to its combined market capitalization a year ago. It is one of the few parts of the economy that has done worse than the general S&P 500 Index. The decline during the first half of June 2008 has been terribly steep. Is there any relief in sight?

Precision Castparts (PCP) has been on a nasty slide down to $100 since tapping $130 when it reported earnings on May 6, 2008. Stocks who supply products going into commercial airlines, including PCP, continued to be sold off. Investors seem spooked by recent fleet downsizing by the major U.S. carriers on the back of high oil prices and struggling consumers.

Colorado’s largest power utility, Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL), will launch one of the biggest energy-conservation efforts in the nation, costing well over $1 billion in the next 12 years — by order of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

When you consider a stock in the utilities sector of the market, I'm sure you are thinking about safety and income, not so much about over-sized gains. As a rule of thumb, these big players won't be outperforming in a bull market... but in today's uncertainty, why not trust an established utilities contractor with locked-in contracts?