I toast my bread in a toaster and then put it under the grill or even toast the bread under the grill but because my grill is electric is fairly slow.
A question in Britain gas cookers (stoves) are more popular than electric mainly because the burners are quicker and more controllerable but American recipes always seem to indicate temperatures in F so do you not have gas cookers?
It depends on where one lives. I am allergic to the chemical they put in natural gas to make you know if it's leaking so I've been very glad that every home I've ever lived in uses an electric range, but you're right, gas heat is more controllable. Where I live, hydro-electric power is plentiful, as is natural gas, but the electric people seem to have cornered the market here first.
My friends, where I house sit, discovered their electric bill (heat, lights, oven, all power) was over $1,000 a month so the wife called the gas company, got facts and figures, went to all the neighbors, and got them to pay to have a natural gas line put in to their neighborhood. They pay a pittance for their heat now. Happily for me she kept her electric range.
It was very nice when we lost power for nearly a week during an ice storm last year because, even though the oven was electrical and the starters (not the right word) for the burners were, we were able to light a match and get flame, so we could cook and get a little warmer at the same time!