Transformers are in short supply in El Paso and nationally due to supply chain clogs and disruptions. 

Transformers are in short supply in El Paso and nationally due to supply chain clogs and disruptions. 

Amid widespread supply chain issues, it’s getting more difficult to turn on the lights at new developments.

Builders and developers in El Paso are facing longer wait times and supply backlogs on critical components for utility hookups, including transformers.

For the last couple of months, those backlogs have reached nearly a year for transformers. El Paso Electric said it is working through the issues and communicating with builders, and the wait times have shortened to about 35 to 40 weeks.

“We recognize it’s a huge impact to our community, to folks who are developing and getting these residences and businesses up and running,” said Omar Gallegos, vice president of transmission and distribution at El Paso Electric.

The transformer shortages are primarily for pad-mounted transformers. Those are the green boxes mounted to the ground in newer developments and neighborhoods. Shortages are also impacting the cylindrical transformers mounted overhead on utility poles, Gallegos said.

“When this started, we brought in transformer manufacturers, and were able to make up some ground on the overhead, but not as much on the underground (transformers),” Gallegos said. “It’s tight for both, but pad-mounted is more difficult to come by.”

The problem is not limited to El Paso Electric. Utilities across the country are facing shortages of connective components and materials, and are holding on tighter to what they do have.

In the past, El Paso Electric may have been able to share resources and materials with other electric companies. But with shortages, those utilities are keeping their extra materials for major emergencies like hurricanes and weather events.

“We’ve made a significant effort to acquire significant material going into the summer storm season,” Gallegos said. “We have sufficient material to ensure reliable service through that. It can be difficult to give that up to another utility.”

The transformer shortage is driven by many factors, including waves of COVID and lockdowns, labor shortages and disruptions in raw material supply.

Ray Adauto, vice president of the El Paso Association of Home Builders, said the global nature of the shortages make it difficult to find solutions.

“If it was just Canada and the U.S. it would be one thing,” Adauto said. “It’s everywhere; it’s the same problem. It’s a perfect storm.”

He said he’s heard about long wait times for utility hookups from homebuilders and developers, delaying when residents and businesses can move into their spaces.

He said workforce shifts and shortages have also snarled the normal workflow of construction projects. Adauto said construction fields face challenges in recruiting workers to do laborious and oftentimes dangerous work.

“It goes from engineers to guys digging the trench,” Adauto said. “COVID took a lot of people out of the industries and the workforce is totally different.”

Workforce shortages have also contributed to delays with other utility hookups. Felipe Lopez, chief operating officer in charge of distribution and collection at El Paso Water, said the department responsible for new water main installation has been short 30% in staffing.

Lopez said El Paso Water has not had shortages in materials for hookups. He said the utility has seen a shortage in some parts for other jobs, including valves used in water distribution to isolated areas.

“Due to retirements, and the post-COVID issues, we’re all struggling for the same people in the same area,” Lopez said. “We’re all trying to meet our demands, with the same workforce. It’s just a matter of the individual accepting a job here or there.”

Email El Paso Inc. reporter Sara Sanchez at sesanchez@elpasoinc.com or call (915) 534-4422.

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