Hitachi Energy Expands U.S. Grid Technology Footprint with New North Carolina Center
The $10 million Power Electronics Center of Competence in Cary marks the latest phase of a broader $1 billion domestic manufacturing push to address surging electricity demand.
Hitachi Energy announced on April 2 that it will invest $10 million to establish a Power Electronics Center of Competence in Cary, North Carolina, creating 150 new jobs and adding 32,000 square feet of engineering, testing, and system integration capacity. Scheduled for inauguration in fall 2026, the facility represents the latest component of Hitachi Energy’s historic $1 billion commitment to expanding grid infrastructure manufacturing across the United States. The investment comes as utilities, grid operators, and policymakers grapple with electricity demand growth driven by artificial intelligence data centers, electrification, and industrial expansion.
The United States is experiencing what Morningstar DBRS and other analysts have described as an investment “super-cycle” in electric utility infrastructure. After roughly two decades of flat electricity demand, load growth projections have shifted dramatically. Data center grid-power demand alone is projected to reach 75.8 gigawatts by 2026, up from approximately 53 GW in 2023, according to KilowattLogic analysis. Goldman Sachs projects a 15 percent compound annual growth rate in U.S. data center power demand through 2030, at which point data centers could consume 8 percent of all U.S. electricity.
This demand surge has exposed structural bottlenecks across the grid. Current lead times for large power transformers range from 80 to 120 weeks, and global transformer market demand is expected to climb from $48 billion in 2024 to $67 billion by 2030. The interconnection queue—where new generation and load projects wait for grid connection approval—has grown substantially, with multi-year wait times now common across most U.S. regional transmission organizations. Against this backdrop, both federal investment and private-sector manufacturing expansion have accelerated in parallel.
The Cary facility will support Hitachi Energy’s portfolio of power electronics technologies, including Static Synchronous Compensators (STATCOMs), Fixed Series Compensation systems, Synchronous Condenser Systems, and advanced grid control devices. These technologies enable utilities and transmission operators to increase the capacity of existing power lines without constructing entirely new transmission corridors—a critical capability given the permitting and construction timelines that can stretch five to ten years for new high-voltage lines.
The center will also serve as Hitachi Energy’s global hub for advanced cybersecurity offerings for critical grid infrastructure, reflecting the growing emphasis on protecting operational technology systems from sophisticated threats.
The North Carolina investment is part of Hitachi Energy’s $1 billion U.S. manufacturing commitment announced in September 2025. Nearly half of that total—$475 million—is allocated to a new large power transformer manufacturing facility in South Boston, Virginia, which will become one of the largest transformer production sites in the country when operations begin in 2028. The company is also expanding breaker and switchgear manufacturing near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Collectively, these investments form part of Hitachi’s broader $9 billion global plan to scale energy and manufacturing capacity.
At the federal level, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity launched the $1.9 billion SPARK program in March 2026, funding transmission reconductoring and advanced transmission technology upgrades. Concept papers were due April 2, with full applications due May 20 and selections anticipated in August 2026. Together, these public and private investments signal a coordinated effort to address grid capacity constraints before they become binding limitations on economic growth.
The scale and pace of grid infrastructure investment are generating measurable shifts in workforce demand across multiple disciplines. Hitachi Energy’s 150 new positions in Cary will require power electronics engineers, system integration specialists, cybersecurity professionals with operational technology expertise, and testing technicians—skill sets that are already in limited supply across the energy sector.
The broader pattern extends well beyond a single facility. The South Boston transformer plant is expected to create more than 825 jobs, and the Pittsburgh expansion will add further positions in switchgear and breaker manufacturing. Across the industry, demand is intensifying for professionals experienced in grid planning, transmission engineering, power systems protection, and regulatory compliance. The DOE’s SPARK program, if fully deployed, could drive additional demand for project managers, civil engineers, and utility planning specialists at organizations seeking to reconductor existing transmission lines.
Industry observers note that the convergence of federal infrastructure spending, private manufacturing expansion, and accelerating load growth may tighten labor markets for experienced grid professionals in the coming quarters. Organizations involved in grid modernization, utility engineering, and energy technology manufacturing may find themselves competing for a relatively constrained pool of specialized talent.
Industry observers will be watching several developments in the months ahead. The DOE’s SPARK program selections, expected in August 2026, will indicate which transmission corridors and technologies receive federal backing for accelerated upgrades. Hitachi Energy’s Cary facility inauguration in fall 2026 will serve as a barometer for the pace of domestic grid technology manufacturing scale-up.
Meanwhile, ERCOT’s summer 2026 reliability assessments will test whether the Texas grid’s rapid buildout of solar, battery storage, and new thermal capacity can keep pace with the state’s record-setting demand growth. ERCOT’s interconnection queue points to significant new capacity on the horizon, but supply-demand balance remains a closely watched metric across the industry.
More broadly, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s forthcoming rulemaking on standardized large-load interconnection procedures—with an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking directing action by April 30, 2026—could reshape how data centers and other large industrial loads connect to the grid, with implications for both infrastructure planning and workforce allocation across the sector.
