IMHO utilities need to realize that their business model of the future is to provide load balancing services and backup power to customers as much as it is to sell electricity. If they wait too long to start acting and keep fighting decentralized generation, they risk losing their value proposition as more people install batteries at home.
If that happens I could see them setting themselves up for a big political fight against their customers as they try to maintain their business by force/law.
The problem is what you suggest would destroy them as businesses. You have just described them doing "just" the parts of their business where they operate at a loss with massive multi-decade debt loads.
Generation is the only part of the business that produces the money to fund the infrastructure and the generation is the cheapest part of the business.
We used to have this concept that utilities were regulated monopolies. On the one hand, they were told exactly how much they were allowed to charge, and what services they had to provide (and where, and to whom). On the other hand, they were assured that they had no competition and that they would always be slightly profitable. It was good for the stock market, too -- a utility would have exceptionally low volatility and pay regular dividends, being nearly as safe as anything can be.
Generation is the only part of the business that produces the money to fund the infrastructure and the generation is the cheapest part of the business.
To a large extent, that business model is obsolete in many places. For example Consolidated Edison in NYC used to generate most of its own power. Here is a link to a generating station they used to own but were forced to divest:
Due to deregulation of the energy markets in New York State, Con Edison was required to sell all of its "in-city" generating stations in New York City including Ravenswood. In 1999, Con Edison transferred ownership of Ravenswood to KeySpan Energy (KeySpan) for $597 million.
I think it's stupid, but nobody asked me before they forced this on Con Ed.
Yeah it is obsolete in many places but the difference between retail and wholesale prices is how they pay for their infrastructure so the driver is still the same model from the perspective of the utility.
They were legally forced to sell as well, not due to a lack of profitability.
They have to lobby to start charging for the services they will do in the future. If they don't do that, they will soon have to lobby to get free money from people, and that last one can only end badly.
At which point you are paying a subscription fee to maintain the infrastructure which will quickly eat up much of the value of decentralization. But yeah, they probably will have to move to that model and disconnect generation from delivery in the same entity.
If that happens I could see them setting themselves up for a big political fight against their customers as they try to maintain their business by force/law.