In Part 1 of this news analysis (See Brace Yourself (and Your Portfolio) for an Oil Price Shock by 2012 Or Sooner - Part 1 of 2), experts warned that a new oil price shock appears to be right around the corner, a shock that could send crude skyrocketing to $200 to $300 a barrel by the mid-teens. What’s an investor to do?

Put some money down on both oil and its eventual successor, electricity.

If Charles Maxwell of Weeden & Co. is correct – and we suspect he is – the oil price shock will hit before there are enough alternatively-fueled vehicles on the road to relieve the pressure. At the same time, as fears of a price shock rise, expect President Obama to ratchet up his already sizable efforts to jumpstart sales of plug-in electric hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) via financial incentives and more.

At this point, playing the commodity itself may be the way to go. Maxwell wrote in his January 30, 2009 research report that, as signs of a potential price shock become clear, “Investors could begin to gravitate to futures markets again to protect themselves, their companies, and their countries,” thus beginning a long-term trend of rising prices that “could take us to $200 or $300 per barrel by the mid-teen years.”

Meanwhile, while the car companies and their lithium-battery providers likely will be making all the headlines, there will be so many players in the PHEV game that choosing a winner will be difficult. Better maybe, then, to bet on the fuel providers, which in this case are the electricity generators whose power serves densely-populated urban and suburban areas where PHEVs are expected to catch on first because of the relatively short distances people drive each day. (Early-stage PHEV batteries are expected to have a limited range.)

According to Marie R. Corio, who heads her own New York-based electricity industry consulting firm, power providers that may up their revenue thanks to PHEVs include NRG Energy Inc. (Symbol NRG), Exelon Corp. (Symbol EXC), Public Service Enterprise Group (Symbol PEG), and Constellation Energy Group (Symbol CEG). (For more, please see  Constellation, Exelon, NRG, PSEG Should Prosper in Coming Era of Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles — Analyst)