In an effort to spur and speed up the production of distribution transformers, a range of industry groups are asking Congress for $1.2 billion to push things along.
That funding has been included in legislation passed by the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Committee and is designed to bolster both the transformer and critical grid component supply chain.
In urging that both the House and Senate pass the funding legislation, the coalition of groups including the National Association of Home Builders, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and the American Public Power Association, said funding for advanced transformer production is crucial.
“This will help domestic manufacturers increase capacity and catch up to existing orders, all the while providing greater certainty to end-users of critical grid components,” said the communication sent to Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The advent of more transformers everywhere, the communication continues, will result in an increase in home building, while communities across the country will be better able to tackle pressing infrastructure projects and regions can recover more quickly from natural disasters.
Members of the NAHB, working on a variety of home construction projects, have reported that the wait time for transformers is often anywhere from 12 months to 24 months. Other contractors have reported delay times of up to three years.
At the same time, according to a report issued last summer by The Conference Board, “costs for finished transformers have soared in some cases by more than 400% since 2020.”
Two factors leading to the short supply: in 2018 the Trump Administration raised tariffs on transformers coming out of China, resulting in a drop of more than 75% in that product to the U.S.
An additional tariff was placed on the particular steel used in the making of transformers domestically.
If both houses of Congress end up approving the $1.2 billion appropriation, it will be sent directly to the Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity and Grid Deployment Office.
By Garry Boulard
