Utility Stock Index Basks in Heat Wave

What’s bad for consumers must be good for investors--or so some of the latter must be thinking as electricity remains in short supply amid the latest heat wave.

The Dow Jones utility stock index hit a record high Thursday, soaring 1.4% to 343.97. So far this week it’s up 4.8%.

Among the biggest gainers in the 15-stock index on Thursday were California’s power giants: Edison International (EIX), parent of Southern California Edison, rose 95 cents, or 4.8%, to $20.70; and PG&E; Corp. (PCG), parent of Pacific Gas & Electric, jumped $1.20, or 4.4%, to $28.83.

Those shares had been overshadowed for much of this year by such competitors as Duke Energy (DUK, up $2.14 to $67.14 on Thursday) and Enron Corp. (ENE, up 39 cents to $78.02), which are considered to have brighter futures in the power-wholesaling business nationwide.