Planning Ahead Helped Cookeville Electric Dept. Avoid Transformer Supply Issues

Cookeville Electric Department’s transformer supply is in good shape despite issues with obtaining them.

Director Carl Haney said that he attributes that to planning ahead. He said the department’s purchasing superintendent was proactive with ordering over the last year.

“We have enough on hand to do any of our current projects and any project that we see that’s coming up in the near future,” Haney said. “Plus we also have orders that are staged to come in. We have orders that are staged to come in in February, so right now we’re in really good shape.”

Haney said that when they originally ordered their transformers last summer, it was about a six to eight-month lead time. He said that now, it can be up to a year or more.

Haney said that issues with supply chains, labor, and the companies themselves have likely all contributed to the problem.

“One of our main suppliers with transformers, they stopped taking orders a couple of months ago so they could get caught up,” Haney said. “So that always sort of puts a little bit of a burden on it as well. So it’s probably a combination of everything.”

Haney said that winter weather always poses some concern when it comes to transformers and damaging them. He said that despite that, they’re still in a good position and prepped for any potential winter weather events.