My father was an electrical power engineer. It's quite a lot harder than one would think to distribute power with a nationwide grid.
It's never really made sense to me that we even have a nationwide grid. Why not local grids with local power plants? That's what islands use. While there is economy of scale in a big power plant then you need a bigger grid to consume its power.
There are many ways to generate electrical power. I expect many aren't used because power companies can't earn money from them.
I expect you'd have fewer scheduled blackouts if the rural areas had their own local generators.
I've just gotten into the PDX Renters Unite! Facebook group. Rental prices in Portland are skyrocketing largely due to venture-backed companies hiring from out of state.
The solutions are largely straightforward, for example "inclusionary zoning" would require that new housing developments include a certain proportion of affordable housing. But inclusionary zoning is forbidden by Oregon State Law.
In what way does that law serves the needs of the people? Well that was not considered by the legislators, no the developers lobbied them, no doubt set them up with hookers and blow so as to maximize shareholder value while throwing lots of young people out on the street.
Even India cannot provide reliable electricity to its cities. Rural India has scheduled blackouts for 6-7 hours a day.