Politics will play a seemingly outsized role in this presidential election year.

Companies with the wherewithal to invest in their networks will succeed. Those that don't won't.

Two UF Portfolio Holdings were among 26 essential-service companies that issued debt in November. Southern Company (NYSE: SO) and Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) are both paying rock-bottom rates for long-term money.

"The bigger the better" is the best way to describe the single most important attribute of successful, long-term wealth-builders among essential service companies.

Holding rates down is often a tool of vote-hungry politicians who won’t be around when their short-sightedness results in long-term damage to utility systems.

Fears of higher borrowing costs for everyone did not come to fruition in the wake of S&P's downgrade of US government debt.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted license extensions for a handful of US nukes in recent weeks, but the path for further approvals remains fraught.

A safety review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission undertaken in the aftermath of Japan's Fukushima-Daiichi meltdown reveals positive result in its early days, though costs are still likely to rise for some US operators.

It sent quite a shock wave across the cable TV financial news universe. In the real world sullied S&P's action will generate little reaction.