Black Hills Corporation Common Stock (BKH)

These companies pay very reliable and steadily growing dividends.

Black Hills Corp. and NorthWestern Energy plan to merge in all-stock, tax-free deal to create a $7.8B regulated utility giant serving 2.1M customers in 8 states.

The utility sector has the wind at its back right now, and here are three different high-yield ways to play it.

No business can completely avoid the recession hit, but some are much better positioned to do so than others.