I agree, it is annoying. But it's also your utility's choice. Complain to them about it or choose a different provider if you can?

Security and convenience are always tradeoffs. I think 2FA is annoying as heck too (much prefer passkeys these days), or ridiculous password requirements, email passwordless login, etc., but those are all choices some admin or manager made on behalf of their business.

There’s always auto pay or give them a call?

I found out a few months ago that my router has a built-in VPN that I just had to turn on. Now it doesn't matter where in the world I am, it can always look like I'm not only in the US, I'm actually on my home network. That might be worth considering if you're traveling a lot: it's about as benign-looking to providers as is possible.

I'd be afraid of doing that, knowing how insecure most home routers are. Seems like a zero day (or really even a "zero year", considering how behind updates can be) away from having your home router become part of a botnet...

It's just OpenVPN, and the version was up to date when I enabled it.

That’s like saying it’s annoying that I can’t get my favorite chips at the grocery store because they don’t ship them to my country, so I’m upset at the grocery store for not having them.