[malchow]

You are interpreting the entire story from the perspective of the utility and ISO (which are distributors, neither a maker of energy nor a net consumer of it). They're Edison-era inventions, borne of the lumbering size, toxicity, noise, and poor capacity factor of mechanical engines.

Why don't you interpret it from the perspective of companies (which need to buy energy to do stuff) and consumers (who need to buy energy to be comfortable)? These are the actual buyers.

Then you'll see why solar and batteries win all, and utilities, with their badly potholed power highways with massive tolls to consumers, slowly reduce in importance.