Executive Summary
Utilities in North America are entering a capital investment cycle that puts new demands on procurement.
Investor-owned utilities are expected to invest roughly $1.4 trillion between 2026 and 2030, creating pressure to secure critical supply, manage cost and risk, and deliver projects on increasingly demanding timelines.
This white paper discusses three areas that are becoming increasingly important for procurement as utilities take on larger, more complex capital programs.
The first is supply and schedule assurance. With large power transformers taking about 2.5 years to deliver on average, leading procurement teams are securing manufacturing capacity earlier, consolidating strategic supplier relationships and gaining visibility across the capital portfolio so projects do not compete for the same constrained supply.
The second is capital planning, forecasting and the growing use of AI.
Procurement intelligence is becoming a core input to capital planning, bringing supplier intelligence, market conditions, cost trends and lead-time information into decisions earlier. AI is increasingly being applied in areas such as supplier risk monitoring, material and labor cost forecasting, contract analysis and demand planning.
The third is risk, governance and organizational readiness. As capital pipelines grow, utilities are strengthening decision rights, category management, shared services and supplier relationships.
At the same time, procurement teams need the skills, expertise and capacity to manage a larger workload without relying simply on more headcount. Building the right mix of talent, contracting discipline, category expertise and prioritization is becoming essential to execution.
Together, these priorities point to a broader role for procurement: anticipating constraints, shaping capital decisions, and building the capabilities needed to deliver complex programs.
Read the full report.
Frequently Asked Questions
Equipment shortages, long lead times and limited supplier production capacity have made supply a major execution risk. Skilled labor constraints and growing project pipelines add further pressure on utilities to secure the resources needed to deliver capacity expansion projects on schedule.
The best procurement teams are creating enterprise-wide visibility into equipment needs, securing critical supply ahead of demand, and strengthening strategic supplier relationships. The goal has shifted from getting the lowest price to securing supply and delivery certainty.
AI can help procurement monitor supplier financial health and risk, forecast material and labor costs, analyze contracts and tariffs, and improve demand planning.
Procurement teams need the skills, governance and capacity to manage a growing workload. Utilities are strengthening decision rights, category management and shared services while building the capabilities needed to execute larger capital programs.