The nonprofit Smart Electric Power Alliance is out with a new analysis of utilities that finds the sector is not moving aggressively to prepare for wider adoption of electric vehicles.

Why it matters: Widespread EV adoption will create new demands on the power sector but also provide new opportunities, such as using their batteries to send energy back onto the grid.

The bottom line: The survey of 486 utilities demonstrates that utilities have "generally taken a conservative approach" to EVs despite projections that the vehicles' combined power use will rise by orders of magnitude in coming decades.

Check out the chart above. It shows that of the utilities that do have EV-related programs, most are still in the early stages.