Power transformers
The single longest-lead item in the chain. We secure slots and units, new and between owners.
Raw Materials & Equipment
We source what the buildout cannot buy off the shelf.
Even with land, power, and capital, projects stall on a transformer, a run of switchgear, or a slug of copper. ELO Advisors sources the long-lead equipment and the materials behind it, through allocations and secondary supply, not a catalog.
01 / The Chokepoint
The bottleneck nobody can permit away.
You can fund a project and contract its power, and still wait years for the transformer that energizes it. The equipment and core materials run on the longest lead times in the chain, and the orders all landed at once.
Transformer lead time
~2.5 yr
For a large power transformer, up from roughly six weeks five years ago.
Source: Wood Mackenzie, 2025.
02 / The Market
Years-long waits, and record order books.
Lead times have blown out and OEM backlogs are at records. Securing an actual delivery slot is now the scarce thing, not placing the order.
~2.5yr
Lead time for large power transformers, from about six weeks five years ago
Wood Mackenzie
~30%
US power-transformer supply deficit in 2025, with roughly 80 percent imported
Wood Mackenzie
+240%
Jump in one maker's data-center equipment orders in a single quarter
Eaton
~50kt
Copper in a single gigawatt-scale AI data center, several times a conventional build
S&P Global
Power transformers ~2.5 years
HVDC cable ~2 years
Switchgear ~1 year
Electrical steel ~10 months
Recovered copper Weeks
The gear is the chokepoint. Recovered metal still moves.
Sources: Wood Mackenzie, 2025; company filings, 2025-26; S&P Global, 2026.
03 / What We Source
The hard end of the chain, in one desk.
Equipment and the core materials behind it, primary and recovered.
Switchgear & substations
Medium-voltage gear on multi-year waits, sourced through allocations and secondary supply.
Electrical steel
Grain-oriented steel, the core of every transformer, from a thin domestic supply.
Copper & secondary metals
Primary and recovered copper, aluminum, and alloys. Our home market.
Cable & busbar
The conductors that wire a campus, and another part of the chain that is backed up.
Delivery slots
Factory production positions, now a tradeable asset in their own right.
04 / How We Work
We work the channel, not the catalog.
The gear that is sold out still moves, through allocations, owners, and secondary supply. We find it, secure it, and document it.
- 01
We profile the requirement
Exactly what gear or material, to what spec, in what quantity, by when.
- 02
We work the channel
OEM allocations, units between owners, mill supply, and recovered material.
- 03
We secure the slot or the metal
A real delivery position or material, not a quote that evaporates.
- 04
We structure and document
Price, spec, delivery, and terms in writing, with the diligence to back it.
- 05
We deliver
On a timeline the build can actually hold to.
05 / Where We Fit
The same muscle that moves scrap, pointed up the chain.
Before AI infrastructure, we were moving physical metal through fragmented, opaque markets. Sourcing a scarce transformer is the same job, and the same network.
See where we startedFrom the scrap yard up
Our roots are moving physical metal through fragmented, opaque markets. This is the same muscle.
We source the un-listed
Slots, allocations, and secondary supply that never appear in a catalog or on a screen.
Principal-capable
When a deal needs more than an introduction, we can take a position in the material.
06 / Our Network
Both ends of the supply chain.
Buyers
- Data-center developers
- EPCs and integrators
- Utilities and IPPs
- Equipment owners and resellers
Suppliers
- Equipment OEMs
- Steel and copper mills
- Recyclers and scrap desks
- Distributors and traders
07 / Questions
What do you actually source?
Long-lead electrical equipment like transformers and switchgear, the steel and copper behind it, and secondary and recovered metals. The hard-to-get end of the chain.
How do you get equipment that is sold out?
Through OEM allocations, units between owners, and secondary supply. We work the channel, not the catalog.
Does this connect to your scrap desk?
Directly. Sourcing secondary copper and steel is the same muscle as sourcing scarce equipment, through the same network.
How are you paid?
A sourcing fee, or a margin when we take title, depending on the deal. Aligned with delivering the material.
08 / Contact
Need equipment, or material to place?
Tell us the spec, the quantity, and the timeline, or the supply you have. We will tell you how we would source or place it.