APPA disappointed transformer funding not included in omnibus bill
The APPA has expressed disappointment the funding to ramp up the production of distribution transformers has not been supported.
Image source: T&D World
USA, Washington D.C.: The APPA has expressed disappointment the funding to ramp up the production of distribution transformers has not been supported.
“This is a critical issue that several industries have raised, and on which the President has called for action. Despite our collective pleas over the past year to address this issue, supplies continue to dwindle, demand far outpaces production, and if action is not taken in the near term, the USA will face electric reliability concerns,” said Joy Ditto, President and CEO of the American Public Power Association (APPA).
In recent comments submitted to the Department of Energy (DOE), APPA, the Edison Electric Institute, and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, said that DOE should use Defense Production Act authorities to prioritize distribution transformers, large power transformers, and other critical grid components ahead of other technologies, and it should act quickly to alleviate the most acute supply chain challenge with distribution transformers.
APPA and the electric trades augmented their comments on DPA with a letter for action on Capitol Hill. The electric trades, along with building trade organizations, recently sent a joint letter to Congressional Appropriations leadership requesting funding for DPA.
The groups requested that Congress appropriate $1 B this year for the implementation of DPA authorities to specifically address the supply chain crisis for electric distribution transformers. However, the funding of distribution transformers through the Defense Production Act has not been included in the 19 December 2022 omnibus appropriations bill.
Source: T&D World
#American Public Power Association#distribution transformers#funding#US Department of Energy#USA