The White House just classified power transformers, switchgear, and substations as essenti

The AI infrastructure beast must be fed.

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Did you know that our grid relies on imports for an eye-popping 82% of our large power transformers? Better yet, those can take 2 to 4 years to obtain due to scarcity.

It's a disaster waiting to happen. And don't think our enemies don't know it.

A targeted terrorist attack wouldn’t just cause temporary inconvenience—it could legit paralyze our economy (and greatly impact our lives for extended periods) while replacements are sourced and installed.

"A 2014 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) analysis—widely cited in government and industry reports—concluded that a coordinated attack disabling just nine key interconnection substations (plus one major transformer manufacturer) could trigger cascading failures across the interconnected U.S. grid. Result: nationwide blackout lasting weeks or months, potentially up to 18 months in a worst-case scenario."

That report was from 12 years ago, and the demands on our grid are much higher today.

And thanks to President Trump, this is finally being addressed. It's a massive national security issue that we should be able to handle from stem to stern here at home.

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You mean using cheap slave labor from a hostile communist dictatorship isn't always a great idea?

Keeps the stock numbers up, though.

Part of the issue has been regulatory. Our EPA has been run like the gestapo by tree huggers for too long. China doesn't have that problem.

Manufacturing power transformers comes with significant ecological challenges, primarily driven by how the processes are, the heavy use of raw materials, and high potential for environmental toxic contamination, including high greenhouse gas emissions from steel and copper production, potential leaks from toxic dielectric oils, and hazardous waste during disposal. It's dirty business and most communities are strident in their "not here" clamour and protests and lawsuits.

Again, China doesn't have that problem.

Should have been 30+ years ago. Wait until they discover what equipment is being installed in military ships.

Now there's concern, like the foreign made home router issue, of trojan devices being embedded in all of this gear being made in, well, you know where.

Nothing. Not a damned thing.

There are literally a multiplicity of issues with this from the ability to put back doors surveillance as well as undermine and threaten the power grid. Do you want to really get spun up? Go look into what would happen if our power grid went down in the United States. Let me just save you some time it ain’t pretty.