I cranked up a second account for a farmer so that it could powerlevel characters created on my first account. Also makes all sorts of other things in game easier like inviting to supergroups, transferring junk, etc.
As for the two characters, nothing wrong with either. My strongest tank is a shield/nrg, and from that I'll state that your elec/sd will be tougher than the nrg/wp, but the nrg will be much better at taking down hard targets.