Background EMP
Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) is a phenomenon of natural solar flares assaulting the Earth or of man made weapons typically nuclear detonation at a high altitude. The energy release can damage sensitive microelectronics, long-distance electric distribution lines, and connected components including High Voltage Transformer (HVTs). Nuclear EMP with adequate yield and altitude could affect an area 100s to 1,000s of miles in diameter resulting in massive outages of electricity distribution, fuel distribution, telecommunications, and without these, disruptions of all transportation, modern medical, food distribution, and production, refrigerated storage, and public water and sewage treatment.
EMP recovery
IF only a small area of the US were affected, it could still be 100s of miles deep with no internal services to base any relief effort, if an intact base existed on the edge of affected area to stage recovery. Recovering the electrical grid would require replacing huge numbers of HVTs. HVTs are typically all custom ordered, expensive, made exclusively overseas, not in the USA, with lead times (4-8 months), and few of them are built per year. Basically, no spares exist at any given time. HVTs tend to be very large and heavy, making their transportation extremely difficult even in the best of times. An aggressively hardened grid with HVTs capable of resisting damage from the nuclear EMP or solar flare could help reestablish power distribution to an affected area, albeit with difficulty. Without hardening, the area may become a low-tech wasteland for years or decades.
Other EMP proposals
On the Policies for the People website there are other legislative proposals addressing the need for obliging upgrades which would probably go to area Utility companies. Utilities lobby congress against such legislation, not wanting to bear the high expense and complexity alone, passing high costs to disgruntled rate payers. These other proposals to move the funding and make the upgrades take place should be done, some way. The current proposal is separate but aids the other proposals.
HVTs made in the USA
Legislation should incentivize companies to be formed in the USA, or to be expanded from companies that could make transformers to become companies capable of supplying EMP hardened high voltage transformers. Hardening should be at the highest modern standard (without getting into the numbers and units here). HVTs should have a substantial minimum US content of $ value of sub-parts or sub-assembly to qualify for a generous federal subsidy to the manufacturer. Raw material like copper and steel could be excluded. There could be a bonus to scale and deliver larger quantities, and/or a bonus to manufacture or stage from multiple distant locations, simplifying future delivery. Companies would have their corporate headquarters in the US and all final assembly in the USA. Made in USA would reduce the long lead times and complex shipping, and reduce overall cost to utilities and consumers. Some measure should be considered so some of the government subsidy would benefit the Utility to engage the plan, and not just have the HVT manufacturer pocketing all the subsidy in profit while still charging customers a high price. Made in USA would boost US employment.
The cost for backup transformers compared to the recovery after an EMP would be negligible. We should never have to rely on another country for infrastructure items. Amazing that they never consider this a priority.
A major EMP attack on the US would be catastrophic. Articles on the subject indicate that the larger transformers could take as long as 5 years from order to installation. How long will you last without electricity? Power companies should be ordering and installing HVTs immediately no matter how they are sourced. The power companies should be able to add these costs as a special fee which may make the States regulatory bodies make adjustments to the laws. An EMP attack would be very easy from any large commercial freighter just off our shores. With missiles easily travelling 1500 miles, the whole US could be targeted by low life foreign dictators in several countries.