The significance of Hitachi Energy’s new transformer manufacturing expansion in South Boston, Virginia, extends well beyond the addition of another factory. When viewed alongside a series of major investments announced across the Southeast during the past year, a much larger story emerges. Rather than isolated projects, these investments are forming an integrated regional manufacturing corridor capable of supplying many of the critical components required to build, modernize, and maintain the North American electric grid.

This emerging ecosystem reaches far beyond transformers. It encompasses transmission conductors, medium- and high-voltage cable, switchgear, substations, transmission hardware, industrial motors, generators, permanent magnets, rare-earth materials, power distribution equipment, connectors, insulators, and the thousands of specialized components required to move electricity reliably from generating stations to homes, businesses, factories, hospitals, military installations, and rapidly expanding AI data centers.

One of the most visible projects is Hitachi Energy’s $457 million expansion in South Boston, Virginia. When production begins in 2028, the facility is expected to become the nation’s largest manufacturing plant dedicated to large power transformers. Those transformers will support electric utilities, transmission operators, industrial facilities, renewable energy projects, and the rapidly growing electrical demands created by artificial intelligence, cloud computing, advanced manufacturing, and hyperscale data centers.

Only a few hundred miles to the southwest, Virginia Transformer is making another major investment. In May 2026, the company announced plans to construct a new 600,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The project is expected to create approximately 1,100 jobs and manufacture medium- and large-power transformers ranging from approximately 2 MVA to 500 MVA. Production is scheduled to begin in 2028, significantly expanding domestic transformer manufacturing capacity.

Virginia Transformer is also expanding its long-established facility in Rincon, Georgia. Announced in late 2025, the approximately $40 million investment will add hundreds of new jobs while increasing transformer production capacity. By expanding multiple facilities simultaneously, the company is helping reduce long delivery times that have become one of the industry’s largest bottlenecks.

North Carolina and Virginia are strengthening another critical segment of the electrical infrastructure supply chain through Siemens. In Prince George County, Virginia, Siemens is establishing expanded manufacturing capacity for medium-voltage switchgear, integrated electrical distribution equipment, utility switching equipment, and power distribution assemblies designed to support growing demand from utilities and AI data centers. At its long-established manufacturing operation in Wendell, North Carolina, Siemens continues producing medium-voltage electrical equipment, switchgear, automation systems, and utility control equipment that form the backbone of modern electrical distribution systems.

Schneider Electric is making equally significant investments throughout the region. As part of more than $700 million in announced U.S. manufacturing investments, the company is expanding production in Welcome, North Carolina, while growing its Tennessee operations in Mt. Juliet and Smyrna. These facilities manufacture medium-voltage switchgear, custom electrical distribution equipment, integrated power systems, and other electrical infrastructure products specifically intended to accelerate deployment of utility projects, industrial facilities, and hyperscale AI data centers. Rather than simply increasing production, Schneider is positioning these facilities to reduce lead times for some of the most critical equipment used in modern substations and electrical distribution systems.

Georgia remains home to one of the nation’s largest electrical infrastructure manufacturers. Southwire, headquartered in Carrollton, manufactures extra-high-voltage transmission conductors, medium- and high-voltage underground cable, overhead transmission conductors, fiber-integrated power cable, cable-in-conduit systems, and prefabricated electrical assemblies. These products connect generating stations, substations, transmission corridors, industrial facilities, and data centers while supporting nearly every stage of electric power delivery. Southwire continues investing in manufacturing capacity as utilities and developers accelerate grid modernization projects across North America.

The region also includes manufacturers whose products are rarely visible to the public but are absolutely essential to the operation of the transmission system.

In Hampton, Georgia, Southern States LLC manufactures high-voltage disconnect switches, circuit switchers, capacitor switching equipment, and substation switching systems used throughout North American transmission networks. These products protect transmission lines, isolate equipment for maintenance, and enable utilities to safely operate high-voltage substations.

In Alabama, Hubbell Power Systems operates a major manufacturing facility in Leeds that produces transmission and distribution connectors, polymer and porcelain insulators, cutouts, lightning arresters, pole-line hardware, underground distribution equipment, and utility switching products. Although far less visible than transformers, these components are installed by the thousands across virtually every electric utility distribution system in the country.

South Carolina has emerged as another important contributor to this growing electrical manufacturing ecosystem.

Near Clemson University in Westminster, Austrian-based Mosdorfer GmbH, a member of the Knill Energy Group, selected Oconee County for its first United States manufacturing operation. Rather than manufacturing transformers, Mosdorfer produces highly engineered transmission-line hardware, including suspension fittings, tension hardware, vibration dampers, spacers, connectors, and structural components required for reliable operation of high-voltage transmission systems. Every new transmission corridor depends upon thousands of these specialized components.

Cherokee County, South Carolina, has attracted another strategically important investment from USA Rare Earth. The company is establishing an integrated facility combining rare-earth processing with the manufacture of neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnets. By integrating both operations at one location, the facility strengthens domestic supply chains while reducing dependence on imported magnetic materials used in industrial automation, electric motors, robotics, renewable energy systems, defense technologies, and numerous advanced electrical products.

South Carolina also continues expanding its capabilities in rotating electrical machinery. Austrian manufacturer ELIN Motoren has increased its U.S. presence by producing large industrial motors and generators serving utility, industrial, mining, marine, and energy applications. These products complement transformer manufacturing by supplying another essential element of large-scale electrical infrastructure.

Viewed together, these investments reveal a pattern that is becoming increasingly clear. Virginia is expanding transformer manufacturing and switchgear production. North Carolina is expanding switchgear, automation, and power distribution equipment. Tennessee is increasing production of medium-voltage distribution equipment. Georgia is strengthening transformer manufacturing, transmission conductors, and substation equipment. Alabama is adding transformer capacity while manufacturing utility distribution hardware. South Carolina is producing transmission hardware, industrial motors, generators, rare-earth materials, and permanent magnets.

Collectively, these companies form an increasingly complete electrical manufacturing ecosystem. Transformers raise and lower voltage. Conductors and cable move electricity across long distances. Switchgear and disconnect switches protect and control power flow. Connectors, insulators, arresters, and transmission hardware support the physical grid. Motors and generators power industrial operations. Permanent magnets enable advanced automation, robotics, and high-efficiency electrical machinery. Together, these products constitute the physical foundation of a modern electric power system.

The advantages of this regional concentration extend well beyond manufacturing capacity. Utilities benefit from shorter supply chains, reduced transportation times, improved technical support, and greater supply-chain resilience. Manufacturers benefit from proximity to suppliers, engineering firms, universities, technical colleges, logistics providers, and a growing pool of highly skilled workers specializing in electrical infrastructure.

Perhaps most importantly, these investments are occurring precisely as the nation’s electricity requirements undergo one of the largest transformations in modern history. Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, advanced manufacturing, electrification of transportation, industrial reshoring, defense modernization, renewable energy integration, grid hardening, and population growth are all increasing demand for electricity. Meeting those needs will require not only new generating stations and transmission lines, but also an expanded domestic manufacturing base capable of supplying the thousands of specialized components that make those systems possible.

The projects announced across Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee suggest that the Southeast is evolving into far more than a collection of individual factories. It is becoming an integrated electrical infrastructure manufacturing corridor where complementary companies are expanding together to build the equipment that will power America’s electric future. If current investment trends continue, this region is likely to emerge as the nation’s premier center for manufacturing the technologies needed to build, modernize, and sustain the electric grid for decades to come.