VIEWPOINT [ INSIGHT ]
by Rana Karimi Senior Manager, ProcureAbility rkarimi@procureability.com | 609-234-8531
Powering Progress with Electrification The utility sector is at the heart of an electrification wave. As societies pivot from fossil fuels to electricity, utilities and power generation companies are not just managing grids; they are driving Without proactive, agile procurement strategies, utilities risk falling behind the urgent demands of electrification.
Strategic thinking and new ways of doing things will drive procurement’s ability to deliver on electrification goals at speed and scale. Utility procurement organizations must become a strategic function to be able to respond to the rapid shifts in the energy landscape. Key actions include: • Conduct two-way risk assessments to evaluate both supplier risks and the buyer’s own risk profile and purchasing leverage. • Diversify supply sources to reduce dependency on constrained regions and materials. • Negotiate long-term contracts and partnerships with key suppliers. • Invest in workforce capacity for strategic thinking, and automated solutions for transactional tasks, to keep pace with increased systematic load. Electrification is a massive industrial transformation whose success depends on the strength and coordination of the organizations and strategies behind it. For utilities, that requires a bold rethinking of supply chain strategy and procurement operations. Today’s supply chain decisions directly shape tomorrow’s electrified world. Electrification is here and so is our opportunity to shape how it is powered.
the charge. Power providers are being asked to deliver more electricity than ever—faster, cleaner, and more reliably—while modernizing outdated infrastructure and contending with fragile global supply chains.
The speed and success of electrification programs are tied to one often-overlooked factor: supply chain readiness. As electrification scales, the entire supply chain must scale with it. The entire lifecycle, from rare earth mining to transformer delivery, must operate with greater speed, resilience, and coordination to meet rising demand and avoid bottlenecks that could stall the pace of electrification. FALLING BEHIND Current procurement and logistics systems in the utility sector are struggling to keep pace. Long lead times for critical electrification equipment such as distribution and power transformers now stretch up to five years. These shortages, compounded by global geopolitical instability, are slowing critical projects. Aging transmission and distribution infrastructure further complicates the picture.
This growing demand doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Global supply chains are strained by wars, trade restrictions, and climate extremes affecting resource extraction and logistics. Meanwhile, utilities must source large volumes of critical components and raw materials, which all face rising costs and limited supply. These pressures complicate the urgent pace needed to sustain electrification demand. The new ABCs—AI, big data, cloud— are also an increasing strain on the utility landscape. These tools are increasing system load, which requires significant investment and capacity to sustain. Utilities are at the intersection of both enabling and gatekeeping this global transformation. Their ability to respond to massive load increases while integrating smart technologies and decentralized energy sources will directly influence the success of national and global electrification goals.
82 Inbound Logistics • January 2026
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