U.S. utilities face soaring costs and worsening shortages in the supply of electric power transformers, threatening to slow the growth of data centers and artificial intelligence expansion, a new study reported Thursday.
The report by research firm Wood Mackenzie, “Untangling the US transformer supply chain crisis,” concludes that U.S. manufacturers are overwhelmed by the erupting transformer demand across the electricity sector.
Wait times for delivery of new transformers — essential grid components that raise power voltages for transmission and then step them down for delivery to customers — have doubled or tripled since 2019 to as long as four years, Wood Mackenzie estimates.
The delays have sent U.S. energy companies and industries scouring for foreign suppliers. This year, imported transformers will supply 80 percent of large high-voltage units for power plants and transmission networks and 50 percent of small, utility substation and pole-top models.
