Supply-Chain Issues to Impact New Service Projects

The nationwide supply-chain issues that are affecting items such as building supplies, electronics, furniture, groceries and other items are also impacting the utility industry.

At Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC), that means critical items such as transformers, fuses, poles and related equipment are not arriving as quickly or in the same quantity as expected. Even smaller – but just as important - items such as the hardware to connect equipment to the top of utility poles is in short supply.

REC began to notice supply chain impacts as early as the third quarter of 2020 and began to take steps to mitigate the impact on builders, developers and contractors – and all member-owners.

Over the past year, REC has worked to carefully plan projects and construction to conserve critical materials as much as possible. Even so, planned projects at this point indicate material issues will begin to impact our capacity to provide items such as pad-mount transformers, underground cable and sectionalizing compartments by the end of this year.
The impacts on new service projects could be significant.

Until recent weeks, REC’s lead times on ordering supplies have been short enough to allow the Cooperative to acquire material before it ran out. Now, however, lead times are starting to project past when REC could run out of material if construction practices remain consistent.

For example, REC has orders placed for pad-mount transformers based on expected building demand, but there have been multiple delays in receiving the expected shipments. Additionally, our main supplier has placed their customers on an allocation basis, and our allocation for the remainder of 2021 and for all 2022 does not meet our anticipated need based on known projects and historical projections.

REC anticipates a seasonal slowdown in new construction through the winter months. While this will help alleviate some of the demand, we expect continued shortages of critical construction materials. We will continue to take steps to ensure our ability to respond to service requests and potential outage restoration needs. However, we may have delays on projects due to these shortages.
What to expect

Your local REC design representative will have additional details to share regarding your specific projects and may ask for possible changes to your construction schedule and practices to accommodate new and extended material lead times.

Developers and contractors need to be aware that despite our best efforts and yearlong planning, we are forecasting that material shortages may delay your ability to complete subdivisions or lot plans. 

Thank you,
Richard Collawan
Distribution Design Supervisor
Bowling Green Office
(804) 632-5509
David Keller
Distribution Design Supervisor
Blue Ridge Office
(540) 622-5124
Randy Ross
Distribution Design Supervisor
Culpeper Office
(540) 727-2149
‌