Especially where I live in CA because according to Credit Pulls Database, most major issuers pull EX in California.
When I first applied with Barclay's they pulled TU. However with the CLI request, they pulled EX. The credit analyst at Barclays wasn't concerned with my lates with the utility baddie because I had already established good credit history with them. She also said and I quote, "We don't care about utility bills and we don't see fico scores when we pull your credit." I don't put a lot of credence in her remark of not caring about utility baddies. In other words, don't bank on that when applying for credit