Green Energy Helps Utilities Survive Slump After Virus Crisis

European utilities with bulging renewable energy portfolios are showing that the way out of the coronavirus slump is colored green. Energy companies from Orsted A/S to Iberdrola SA reported robust first quarter earnings in a period that has been bedeviled by a slump in energy demand and a collapse in gas prices. Owning large wind and solar portfolios has so far protected those companies from the worst effects of the crisis. Utilities are the third best performing sector on the Stoxx 600 this year, down 11% instead of the 17% slump the broader market has suffered. “There is complete consensus that the road to economic recovery must be green,” Ignacio Galan, Iberdrola’s chairman, said after announcing the results on Wednesday.