It would be quite nice to know I had quick, reliable power on tap that is regularly tested just in the normal course of my life.
Failing that, buying aviation gasoline (whether 92UL or 100LL) or using gasoline unpolluted with ethanol, a gasoline stabilizer, and exercising the generator for 2 minutes every half-year is probably time and money savings over cleaning the carb.
Cleaning the carb is also an easy sub-15 minute task from tool drawer open to tool drawer shut the second time you've done it. Give yourself an hour the first time maybe. A bottle of spray carb cleaner will last you a decade in all likelihood. I go through this every other year or so with seasonal equipment (lawnmower and snowblower) and it's easier to clean the carb when needed than to chase down and keep avgas on hand.
Riding mower is the only gas engine I have to mess with. Counting down the years until a more competitive battery riding mower is sold.
* The battery is the same as my drills, giving me added battery capacity for the whole Dewalt system. Vendor lock-in...but they're a solid system. My dad's Dewalt batteries from 2012 finally just hit an unacceptably low battery capacity.
* I clean it after use but have had no other maintenance required.
* It's better for the environment
* It's silent when I'm moving across the yard. Having no idle sound is so nice. I actually value this very highly and am seriously considering buying all electric going forward. Last week I saw a guy mowing the yard with an electric mower. You could hardly hear it from 50 feet away.
As for riding, the deep cycle variants are getting competitive with gas powered but lithium is a ways off. fortunately with most deep cycle models batteries can be purchased in many places.
I have kept an old push gas mower around for high grass and light brush clearing a common area that is not regularly maintained. they still have more oomph than electric mowers.
The surprising win for plug-in electric is a small, cheap single-stage snow blower. For snows in the 1-4” range at under 25°F, it’s hard to beat the speed and convenience. I bought it just as a cleanup tool behind my “real” snowblower (a 2-stage can’t clear down to clean pavement), but I find I’ll often use it as the only blower I use for a light, fluffy snow.
I recently got the Ryobi riding mower, which is a glorified golf cart (lead-acid batteries) but works really well as a rough cut. When the blades are in action, it makes the sound of a box fan, and when the blades are off, it's totally quiet.
For the tools that I haven't electrified (my Mantis tiller and Trucut reel mower), I stick with Honda engines. They are a marvel of reliability compared to the others. Only exception is my shredder which has a Kholer engine and does seem to be good too. All these start on first pull after a winter in storage.
If you think don't think a portable deal is a PITA, try something 10x the size.
My last encounter with it was discovering it was sucking down 1kw of power continuously (for at least 3 months, costing $200+) while trying to keep the coolant heated ... in the middle of the summer ... only to discover it had little-to-no coolant.
I found a family of snakes living in it.
I have no idea on the state of the battery, except for that it has one, so I suspect I'll be replacing that if I ever want to use it.
This is all stuff I don't mind doing, but that cuts into my free time that I'd rather be spending with my family.
All of this will cost you significantly more than a portable gas generator, but with yearly maintenance and monitoring, most generators perform just fine.
I work for an electrical contractor that is a General dealer, we do lots and lots of these.