I have a bunch, same as most people in my age bracket, and probably for the same reason(s). But just to take the contrarian view: utilities have filled this niche for so long precisely because they’ve been so predictable (and profitable) for so long. Suppose these changes roil the industry?
A sharp demand increase means investment, and lots of it. New sources, more monitoring, more active interplay between parts of the grid where non-dispatchable power is generated, as opposed to the old days when each power producer was uniformly predictable moment to moment.
There will have to be lots and lots of infrastructure build: from new plants, solar panel farms and windmills right down to rewiring America’s streets and distribution farms. There will be expensive underground cabling in cities, new copper required to bring more power to homes for EV charging, and lots of other expenses along the way. These will have to be paid by utilities, and it’s a question whether regulatory agencies used to sleepy meetings will be proactive in these things.
More and faster growth could mean more and faster problems, given inflation and higher costs of everything, will agencies be inclined to grant even more rate increases to pay for these improvements?
Yes, in the end I think the industry will become even larger, and that augers more profit - eventually. The road to getting there may have some unexpected lumps and bumps, however. Just a few years ago who would have through that California utilities would be operating in bankruptcy, or that Europe would be facing such dire economic choices right now?