Power Industry Is Growing Faster Than Anyone Expected | Drew Welton, Intellirent

The power industry isn’t just growing — it’s growing faster than anyone expected.
And the companies that can’t keep up are already falling behind.

At the 2026 IEEE PES T&D Show, Alan Ross of APC Media sat down with Drew Welton, VP of Business & Technical Development at Intellirent, for a wide-ranging conversation on what 30% year-over-year growth in the electrical rental industry really means — and why the biggest bottleneck isn’t equipment. It’s people.

From a $20 million fleet expansion to a brand-new Phoenix facility, Drew pulls back the curtain on how Intellirent is scaling to meet the demands of a grid industry in overdrive — while fighting the same workforce crisis everyone else is.

In this episode:

• Why 40% of Intellirent’s rental business is now going to data center projects
• How the industry went from 10–15% growth post-COVID to 30% in a single year
• $20 million invested in new fleet assets — and why that was necessary
• “Intellirent Prime”: 93–94% of shipments go out next-day or two-day delivery
• New Phoenix facility: serving the fastest-growing chip & data center market in the US
• The workforce crisis: why NETA Level 2 technicians are walking for $45/hr sign-on bonuses
• NETA’s new apprenticeship program: pulling high schoolers directly into the trade
• 24/7 customer support — “Don’t despair, call Pierre”
• Why working at Intellirent means mastering every manufacturer, not just one
• The IEEE Transformers Committee: how industry standards get built — and why it takes 3–4 years

Guest: Drew Welton, VP of Business & Technical Development, Intellirent
Host: Alan Ross, Managing Editor, APC Media
Filmed at: IEEE PES T&D 2026