Judge Utility Stocks on Their Individual Merits

“Utility Stocks: Hard Lesson in Complacency” (John F. Lawrence column, Oct. 13) could be harmful to both stockholders and many utility companies. It condemned them as a whole instead of individually, as it should have read.

I am 82 and have lived on dividends of various utilities since retiring 15 years ago. I couldn’t have made a better choice!

The column may have deprived many retirees and others of good investment because of the writer’s apparent prejudices. To say the least, Lawrence may have succeeded in killing a lot of good utility stock sales.

CHARLES E. HOLMES

Huntington Beach