America's aging power-grid and dwindling expertise threaten reliable electricity

For two decades the electricity sector assumed demand would stay flat, prompting utilities, transformer makers, and steel producers to scale back apprenticeships and staffing. That complacency left the industry with an aging workforce and a supply chain stripped of domestic capacity. After 2020, demand rebounded, climbing about 7% and pushing transformer orders up 116% since 2019.

Now roughly four-fifths of large transformers are sourced from abroad, lead times for standard units approach two and a half years, and prices have jumped more than 77% since 2019. The typical transformer in service is 38 years old, with over 70% older than 25 years, while half the utility labor force is over 45 and many are set to retire soon. No U.S. program currently trains engineers or technicians to design or build these critical devices, and the few university programs that remain lack the curriculum. Rebuilding capacity will take years, requiring renewed apprenticeships, stable demand signals, and a domestic steel base.