Published on 9 Aug 2023 on Insider Monkey via Yahoo Finance

15 Worst Performing Utility Stocks in 2023

In this piece, we will take a look at the 15 worst performing utility stocks in 2023. If you want to skip out on our introduction about the utility sector and how it became quite important last year, then head on over to 5 Worst Performing Utility Stocks in 2023.

The utility industry became one of the most important sectors of the market last year due to the shock of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on global energy markets. The worst hit markets were those in Europe, which had come to rely on large amounts of Russian crude oil and even larger amounts of natural gas. As the war started, and these supplies became risky and contributed to funding the Russian war effort, Europe started to diversify its energy supply chain.

The crisis also caused energy and crude oil prices to jump to record high levels in early 2022. While naturally this was a good thing for the oil companies, especially since the petro giants such as TotalEnergies SE (NYSE:TTE) and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) made record profits, the reality is a little bit more complex since not all companies were able to earn billions of dollars in revenue from elevated oil prices. Research from economists at the Bank of Italy shows that Russia accounted for 29% of the EU's crude and 43% of its natural gas imports in 2020 - a sizeable reliance that is not easy to break away from.