Copper and transformer shortages stretch U.S. transmission projects into 2028
The grid is waiting on a factory, not a permit.
Electrical substation at dusk
PITTSBURGH — Ask a transmission developer about permitting and you will get a speech. Ask about transformers and you will get a date. Large U.S. transformers are being quoted into 2028, and copper-intensive conductor is not far behind.
That industrial constraint is now as important as any courtroom fight over a right of way. A permitted line without a transformer is a drawing.
Policy makers who want to electrify data centers, factories, and cars in the same decade will have to talk about factory incentives for boring electrical gear. The romance is in the generation. The delay is in the iron.
David Chen
Energy and Infrastructure Correspondent
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