ResourceInsights: "Transformer bottleneck: Can the US maintain + expand its electric grid?" Utilities typically use voltages ranging from 66 kV [kilovolt or thousands of volts] to 765 kV for efficient long-distance transmission. Compare that to the 110 V or 220 V conventional power entering your home or small business. Transformers are the critical nodes in the grid where sky-high voltages are sequentially 'stepped down' to conventional end-use levels. "The Build America, Buy America provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed under the Biden administration require substantial and in some cases 100% domestic content for goods and services used in a wide range of federally funded infrastructure projects including maintenance and expansion of the electrical grid." Our problem is that America 'only produces about 20 percent of the equipment it needs for its electrical power and transmission system.' So we face a 'wait of over two years for most transformers and now even four years for specialized transformers.' "Aging grid infrastructure, new renewable-energy generation, expanding electrification, increased EV charging stations, and new data centers all contribute to the rising demand for these machines," according the IEEE Spectrum. Another danger is that transformers are vulnerable to electromagnetic pulses, whether produced by a solar storm or by an atomic weapon. Militaries around the world have hardened aircraft + communications gear to 'withstand what would otherwise be a crippling electronic blackout, one that could take aircraft out of the air and bring communications to a halt.' It's sobering to realize that nothing comparable has been done to protect civilian infrastructure. An urgent proposal would be to ramp up production + stockpile transformers all over the country in protected sites. As part of grid resilience.
