Grid Apocalypse Hits Carolinas: 360 Substations Down, Power Restoration Could Take "Months"

Grid Apocalypse Hits Carolinas: 360 Substations Down, Power Restoration Could Take "Months"

TYLER DURDEN

Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC), representing a district in the western portion of the state battered by Hurricane Helene, released a press release Sunday detailing the infrastructure devastation. 

Edwards said power outages remain widespread in Western North Carolina as of Sunday. Fast-forward to Wednesday morning, Poweroutage.US data shows more than 400,000 residents are without power in the region. 

He explained that 360 power substations "are out," indicating that "many of these substations were completely flooded, and Duke Energy is unable to assess the damage until the flooding has lowered, the water has been pumped out, and the equipment is thoroughly dried."

What's piqued our interest is that the powering up America theme to power AI data centers and other electrification trends, such as EVs and onshoring manufacturing (as outlined in "The Next AI Trade"), has led to shortages and price increases in the transformer market. 

"Distribution transformers are a bedrock component of our energy infrastructure," National Renewable Energy Laboratory researcher Killian McKenna said, who was recently quoted by PV Magazine. 

McKenna pointed out, "But utilities needing to add or replace them are currently facing high prices and long wait times due to supply chain shortages. This has the potential to affect energy accessibility, reliability, affordability—everything."

Other reasons for the transformer shortages besides power grid upgrades include raw material sourcing problems, pandemic-related supply chain woes and backlogs, labor constraints, shipping issues, and geopolitical tensions. 

Given all of this, Jesse D. Jenkins, an assistant professor and macro-energy systems engineering and policy expert at Princeton University, responded to the dire situation of a grid apocalypse playing out in the Southeast US:

"This is devastating. We do NOT have 360 substations worth of transformers and other electrical equipment sitting in stockpiles waiting to be deployed. It could take a very long time to restore power to everyone. Are we facing a Hurricane Maria-type impact on grid infrastructure?"

Making matters worse for residents of North Carolina, some X users are pointing out the Biden-Harris administration supplied transformers to Ukraine. It's unclear if these transformers were drained for US stockpiles. Meanwhile, others note that Ukraine uses a different electrical system than the US.

We do not have this equipment readily available because we have shipped large quantities of transformers and other electrical equipment to Ukraine. Both our military and non-military support for Ukraine has left us less prepared for domestic disasters like Hurricane Helene: