One of the challenges for companies that provide electrical power to customers is the limited availability of transformers of all shapes and sizes. Today all transformers are made overseas and the lead time to get a transformer is measured in months, not days or weeks.
While every utility will have some spares on hand, they may not have the number, size and type of transformers needed following a disaster. This is why utilities have entered into agreements to share transformers when there is a disaster. You could call it a form of mutual aid.
Like we all learned in kindergarten, sharing is an important part of life!
Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.
