I think part of the problem is that for decades we've been cautioned more and more how dangerous electricity is. If you don't understand any of the nuance, then in your brain the lesson becomes "electricity bad" and the most you can deal with is the familiar.
I once needed my (pretty smart, actually) girlfriend to hold two wires of a car floodlight to the battery terminals (broken cigar lighter plug) and she flat wouldn't do it. Even after I did it myself to show it was safe. She couldn't get over the fear of being shocked. By 12v.
So it's a combination of fear of the unknown, fear of change, and years of conditioning. I'd say "conditioning with no nuance" except a lot of that does actually include details. Alas, many people will get as far as "electricity bad" and won't understand the nuance, so it gets lost anyway.
I think the fear will fade with time and familiarity, like happens with most technological advances. As long as there's no fear-mongering by paranoid conspiracy theorists. I was trying to work "future shock" in there somewhere without it sounding like a dad joke. I've failed on both counts.