6/23/23, 1:10 AM Electrical Grid Parts Shortages Are Slowing Truck-Charging Projects - WSJ

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https://www.wsj.com/articles/electrical-grid-parts-shortages-are-slowing-truck-charging-projects-a36c6626

LOGISTICS REPORT

Electrical Grid Parts Shortages Are

Slowing Truck-Charging Projects
Freight-sector electrification is competing with the growing power
needs of semiconductor plants, data centers and other technology
projects

By Paul Berger Follow

June 20, 2023 2:33 pm ET

Federal and local governments in states such as California, New Jersey and Texas are offering
grants to offset the cost of building charging docks and buying electric trucks. PHOTO: BING
GUAN/BLOOMBERG NEWS

The rollout of heavy-duty electric trucks in the U.S. is facing speed bumps at
charging stations, where executives say delays getting everything from parts
to permits are slowing down construction of the crucial infrastructure. 

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6/23/23, 1:10 AM Electrical Grid Parts Shortages Are Slowing Truck-Charging Projects - WSJ

Electrical equipment manufacturers and startups that build charging

networks say shortages of equipment including transformers, switchgear and
electrical steel are adding months to the time it takes to build charging
facilities to power electric fleets.  

Industry officials say the delays are being fueled by a boom in power-hungry
renewable-energy projects, data centers and semiconductor factories,
stretching the production capabilities of electrical equipment suppliers. 

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Neha Palmer, co-founder and chief executive of startup TeraWatt

Infrastructure, said the shortages are hitting just as the U.S. is pivoting toward
an “electrification of everything mode” that includes the growth of electric-
powered cars, buses and trucks.

“The demand for this type of equipment is increasing,” Palmer said.

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6/23/23, 1:10 AM Electrical Grid Parts Shortages Are Slowing Truck-Charging Projects - WSJ

Truckers are turning toward electric heavy-duty trucks under pressure from
federal and local governments that are introducing emissions rules and other
regulations designed to spur growth in the sector. 

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Beginning Jan. 1, California will start phasing in a ban on older diesel trucks
from calling at the state’s seaports while requiring that new trucks are fueled
by clean energy. The state is also requiring that electric trucks make up an
increasing share of the state’s heavy-duty truck sales and fleets over the
coming years.

Federal and local governments in states such as California, New Jersey and
Texas are also offering grants to offset the cost of building charging docks and
buying electric trucks.

Utility companies are caught in the middle as large-scale projects demand

upgrades and expansions of existing power grids that require more
transformers and other electrical parts.  

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6/23/23, 1:10 AM Electrical Grid Parts Shortages Are Slowing Truck-Charging Projects - WSJ

Mark Rourke, CEO of trucking company Schneider National, said it took almost
three years to install 16 dual-corded chargers, which can charge two trucks at
once, at the company’s operations center in South El Monte, near Los Angeles.

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Rourke said the Green Bay, Wis.-based company faced delays securing permits,
getting power to the site and getting safety certification for the chargers,
which went live earlier this month.

He said installing the infrastructure was a bigger challenge than ordering

dozens of Freightliner eCascadia trucks, built by Daimler Truck North
America. “That’s the easy part,” Rourke said. 

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