Episode 185 | Transformer Transition | Hitachi Energy
Some parts of the grid are unsung heroes, quietly humming away over decades. During my time as a transmission project manager, I would often see transformers built long past their expected life expectancy.
Hitachi Energy is currently the largest transformer manufacturer, both in terms of manufacturing capacity and their installed base. The critical component of this work is a reliable supply chain. My guest, Travis Edmonds, leads up their transformer supply chain for North America.
Travis assumed the role in the months leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic. "You hear a lot of times people will say you're drinking from a fire hose,” says Travis, “but I don't think that there's a fire truck big enough that could carry a hose big enough for the team that we try to put together during probably the most monumental supply chain disruption that the world's ever seen."
Travis is referring to an initiative they kicked off in 2019 to centralize their supply chains from a siloed structure to a regional and global footprint. This enabled them to help manage disruptions caused by COVID-19, with better coordination and communication.
However, nothing could completely mitigate these disruptions, and lead times for transformers went from a few months to a few years in the most extreme cases.
Travis says lead times for their lower voltage distribution transformers have improved. The COVID-disrupted supply chains how now given way to exploding demand for transformers, thanks to EVs, renewables and datacenters.
“The industry as a whole was really surprised by the surge of all these needs that have come in,” says Travis. “And, let's be honest, we were closing factories seven, eight years ago.”
Travis says production has been able to increase 30%, but demand has grown as much as 65%. In 2024, Hitachi announced $6 billion in new transformer production investments, and another $250 million in March 2025.
Travis believes one way to help improve supply chains is to normalize the designs across utilities (i.e. 12kV to 50kV). Their assembly lines also appear to work better with order from “Hyperscalers,” modular, standardized designs.
"The old mindset of looking at our grid and the manufacturers that are producing this critical infrastructure as a commodity type market,” says Travis, “I think those old days are behind us and we have to get to more of a modern type mindset."
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