the gate between the grid and a data center is a large power transformer. a 100-plus-ton custom machine, engineered for its specific site, built to order, ships from no inventory. without one connecting a substation to a campus, the megawatts a hyperscaler signed up for don't actually arrive. lead times have gone from ~50 weeks in 2021 to well over 140 weeks today. prices are up roughly 80% over five years. GE Vernova's ($GEV) backlog hit $163B in Q1 2026, and its electrification segment booked $2.4B in data center orders last quarter alone, more than it booked from data centers in all of last year. capacity is being added, but most of it doesn't show up until 2027 or 2028. roughly half of US data center builds planned for 2026 are expected to slip or get cancelled because of energisat
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