” the poskim (yes, the frum ones) were ready to accept electricity as at worst a d’rabbonon and possibly even permit it. There was no halachic precedent and they had to use, um, rational thinking.”
You state a factually wrong analysis of the early rabbonim. They simply did not understand what and how electricity is. One of our gedolim specifically made havdalah and the brocha bprei meorei haAis on electric light to teach the public that it is aish.
Those rabbonim also did not understand how a microphone works, and initially permitted its use on shabbos – till they learned how it works.
Later they learned how these work and applied halacha. Once they were EDUCATED about electricity, they did not pasken by logic, but by halachic precent ONLY..
Similar was when microwave cooking came out, rabbonim had very lenient opinions about it till they factually became educated and came out with clear guidance about kashering, using for milk and meat, din bishul etc.
It is EDUCATION – to learn the facts (the “metzius”), not to apply “logic”.