Like utilities across the U.S., CPS Energy is facing material and supply shortages to support all the growth. Before the pandemic, the wait time for transformers could be measured in weeks. Now, the lead time can be up to 24 months. CPS Energy anticipates it’ll be 36 months for the process to normalize. Even as new homes and lots are energized each week, many builders or real estate developers are in limbo, waiting to get the transformers that have been ordered for their projects.

To tackle the transformer shortage in new home construction, CPS Energy has:

• Added more / new suppliers and manufacturers to the vendor pool to increase the availability of transformer units. 
• Adjusted transformer specifications to increase available units.
• Refurbished / repaired / repurposed existing equipment to increase inventory.
• Hosted update sessions with the real estate community to keep them informed of shipments and progress.
• Established a waiting list online (voluntary) to increase transparency on the numbers of units and projects in the queue.
• Advocated for support from the Texas legislature as well as the U.S. Congress to incentivize increased manufacturing.
• Established a process for reviewing customer-identifier transformer suppliers. If a customer identifies transformers that meet CPS Energy specifications, we will purchase and install those transformers on the customer’s site.
• Created a new process to allow partial energization of some subdivisions, so developers/builders can start selling lots & building homes on in a portion of the development until all transformers are available.

These efforts are showing positive results. 

Source: newsroom.cpsenergy.com