Lighting up a portfolio.(Brief Article)

Doris Kelley-Watkins has some electrifying utility picks

When it comes to utility stocks, some still think of them as boring, staid investments with little juice. But Doris A. Kelley-Watkins, senior vice president and portfolio manager with Evergreen Asset Management in White Plains, New York, says her favorite stocks in that industry aren't your father's utility companies.

For one thing, deregulation of the power industry has jolted investor-owned utilities into competing more vigorously, says Kelley-Watkins, manager of the $135 million Evergreen Utility fund (Nasdaq: EVUAX). Further, utilities represent a much broader spectrum in the market, including wireless telecommunications and power generation firms.

"In 2000, the utility industry has changed and so has …