One farm in Vermont, Green Mountain Dairy Farm, is part of a growing alternative energy program which converts methane gas from cow manure into electricity, which is then sold to the power utility grid. Central Vermont Public Service was one of the first utility companies in the country to draw electricity from cow manure on dairy farms, reports Katie Zezima for The New York Times.

About 4,000 customers contribute by paying a premium on the electricity.

Four Vermont dairy farms are on the grid, wit two awaiting in the pipeline, and the utility hopes to add six more farms by 2010. Both residents and businesses that pay the premium of 4 cents per kilowatt hour pay that rate on top of the typical 12.5 cent rate. Most of that money goes to the farmers, who have to buy their own equipment. They expect to make back their investment in 7 to 10 years.

ETFs that are bordering on cow manure:

• First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX (FXU), down 14.2% year-to-date
• PowerShares FTSE RAFI Utilities (PRFU), down 13.1% year-to-date
• SPDR S&P International Utilities Sector (IPU), down 9.2% since Aug. 22 inception
• Rydex S&P Equal Weight Utilities (RYU), down 15.9% year-to-date

In recent article, Jonathan Bernstein of ETFZone put together a list of the most efficient, best-diversified and lowest-risk utilities ETFs on the market. He explained that investors typically look to this sector to deliver regular cash dividends and lower portfolio beta.

Similar to most sector funds, the number of utilities sector ETFs has exploded in recent years. This sector now offers investors opportunities that include globally diversified ETFs, strategic allocation ETFs, and ETFs providing short exposure or leverage characteristics.

Some of the top utilities ETFs include:

• iShares Dow Jones US Utilities Sector Index Fund (IDU), down 9.7% year-to-date
• Vanguard Utilities ETF (VPU), down 9.5% year-to-date
• First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund (FXU), down 11.1% year-to-date
• Rydex S&P Equal Weight Utilities ETF (RYU), down 10% year-to-date
• SPDR S&P International Utilities Sector ETF (IPU), fund inception on July 16

However, according to a recent Reuters article, JP Morgan has switched to a “neutral” stance on the U.S. electric sector. The article cites concerns such as falling natural gas prices over the past few weeks contributing to the shift.

Another concern leading to the change was the recent campaign of oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens’ calling for $1 trillion worth of investing in wind power to displace natural gas consumption for power in favor of natural gas consumption as transportation fuel.

JP Morgan analyst, Andrew Smith, explained that they expected uncertainty in the US economy coupled with strong fundamentals and earnings momentum of the sector to support certain stocks throughout the year. However, he admits that they were wrong to recommend a positive stance.

Regardless, the utilites sector has lacked its predictability and utilities ETFs have shown this in their negative returns.

This brings the Spider line to include 80 ETFs, with 31 of those focused on global access to international markets. The new offerings enter a market space that WisdomTree had been cornering.

Why would you choose one or the other? As Gary Gordon for ETF Expert says: it’s a matter of preference. State Street’s funds have a traditional market-cap weighted methodology. WisdomTree’s funds have a dividend-weighted index methodology. Dividends in the WisdomTree funds will come annually, while State Street’s will be quarterly.

The expense ratio for the State Street funds is set at 0.5%, while the WisdomTree funds come in at 0.58%.

The 10 new ETFs are are international sector SPDRs and they give access to investments outside the U.S. benchmarked to a series of S&P World ex-US Broad Market Indices. The following ETFs are market-cap weighted, include only non-U.S. holdings, and use the Global Industry Classification Standard, or GICS.

The ETFs are:

• SPDR S&P International Consumer Discretionary Sector (IPD)
• SPDR S&P International Consumer Staples (IPS)
• SPDR S&P International Financial Sector (IPF)
• SPDR S&P International Health Care Sector (IRY)
• SPDR S&P International Industrial Sector (IPN)
• SPDR S&P International Materials Sector (IRV)
• SPDR S&P International Technology Sector (IPK)
• SPDR S&P International Telecommunications Sector (IST)
• SPDR S&P International Utilities Sector (IPU)
• SPDR S&P International Energy Sector (IPW)

WisdomTree’s funds launched Oct. 13, 2006 and they are:

• WisdomTree International Basic Materials Sector (DBN)
• WisdomTree International Communications Sector (DGG)
• WisdomTree International Consumer Discretionary Sector (DPC)
• WisdomTree International Consumer Staples Sector (DPN)
• WisdomTree International Energy Sector (DKA)
• WisdomTree International Financial Sector (DRF)
• WisdomTree International Health Care Sector (DBR)
• WisdomTree International Industrial Sector (DDI)
• WisdomTree International Technology Sector (DBT)
• WisdomTree International Utilities Sector (DBU)