this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2025
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I work in transmission construction. Depending on the size and configuration the transformers and high side breakers can be 3+ year lead times. But 6 years is crazy when you consider the loss of revenue.
I work in a high power field and we straight up cancel projects because we get quoted six year lead times more and more often. We can't absorb the lost revenue.
There are some places that have grown so quickly, like downtown Denver, that capacity is just completely tapped out. And you either pay millions for feeder upgrades that won't be ready until 2032 or you just move on.
Sometimes we ride in on the coattails of a data center that pays for the upgrades and leaves a few MW left over, but even electric service equipment never had its lead times fall since the pandemic. Projects that used to take eight months now take two years or longer. Not an easy time to be agile.
How many unemployed people do you know in the trade? You can’t learn it overnight. Existing projects are underway, and the equipment needs to be built.
Edit - reread the summary there and they broke ground in 2019; you’re right that’s silly.
We are looking at the mistake of allowing capital to offshore everything in the 70's and 80's. China didn't force those companies to stop maintaining their existing infrastructure and outsource all their manufacturing overseas, they chose it in the interest of lower costs.