The reason for this is that it is extremely expensive to build and maintain utility-grade infrastructure over a wide geographic area, and these costs would otherwise make it impossible for utilities to ever pay a dividend or provide a shareholder return.

Source: https://seekingalpha.com/article/4606797-northwestern-corporation-positive-demographics-and-attractive-valuation?source=feed_all_articles

This is due to the incredibly high costs that are involved with constructing and maintaining utility-grade infrastructure over a wide geographic area.

Source: https://seekingalpha.com/article/4588791-aes-things-to-like-comfortable-with-risk?source=feed_all_articles