If you work in the U.S. electric power industry, you are used to hearing that everything takes longer than expected. Permits take longer. Interconnection studies take longer. New generation takes longer. Transmission siting takes longer. What has changed is that a single piece of equipment can now derail an otherwise sound plan on its own: the transformer. That is why transformer shortages have shifted from a purchasing headache to a leadership problem. When a utility, developer, or grid operator cannot get the transformer it needs, the schedule on the wall no longer means much.