Hitachi Energy is spending $10 million on a new power electronics centre in Cary, North Carolina, as utilities and large industrial users race to reinforce electricity networks strained by data centres, electrification and tighter reliability demands. The 32,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to open in autumn 2026 and is expected to create 150 jobs, expanding the company’s engineering, testing and system integration capacity in the United States.
The project marks another step in a broader push by the Zurich-based company to deepen its North American footprint at a time when grid equipment suppliers are being pulled into one of the biggest infrastructure build-outs in decades. Hitachi Energy said the Cary site will help shorten delivery times for technologies used to improve voltage stability, relieve congestion on existing lines and connect large loads more quickly, without always waiting for new transmission corridors to be built.
State and federal officials used the announcement to underline both the local jobs message and the strategic dimension of the investment. Hitachi Energy said U. S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright attended an on-site event in North Carolina, while Governor Josh Stein and Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley backed the expansion as a sign of the state’s appeal for advanced energy manufacturing and engineering. For North Carolina, the project also strengthens the Research Triangle’s standing as a centre for power, software and industrial technology talent.
For Hitachi Energy, the Cary development is not an isolated bet. The company said the new site forms part of the $1 billion U. S. manufacturing programme it announced in 2025, which also includes a large power transformer factory in South Boston, Virginia, and other capacity additions meant to localise supply chains. That larger plan was framed by the company as a response to mounting pressure on grid infrastructure from artificial intelligence computing, factory electrification and the wider shift towards electricity as the backbone of economic growth.
The business case is being strengthened by hard numbers from the power sector. The International Energy Agency said U. S. electricity demand rose 2.1% in 2025 and is projected to grow by nearly 2% a year through 2030, with about half of that increase linked to data centre expansion. Reuters, citing the U. S. Energy Information Administration, reported that nationwide electricity load is forecast to rise 1.9% in 2026 and 2.5% in 2027, after years when demand was largely flat. That change is forcing utilities, regulators and equipment makers to rethink how quickly capacity can be added and how existing grids can be used more intensively.
The Cary centre is designed to serve precisely that gap between demand growth and the slow timetable of traditional transmission expansion. Hitachi Energy said the site will support products such as STATCOMs, fixed series compensation systems, synchronous condenser systems and advanced grid control devices. Those technologies are aimed at squeezing more performance from the network already in place, helping operators stabilise power quality, increase transmission capacity and reduce bottlenecks. In practical terms, that means utilities can defer or complement large transmission projects that often take years to permit and build.
That theme is being echoed across the industry. Reuters Events reported in March that U. S. grid owners are stepping up spending on so-called grid-enhancing technologies because new high-voltage lines remain slow, expensive and politically difficult to build. The same report said the Department of Energy estimates the U. S. would need roughly 5,000 miles of new high-capacity transmission every year between 2025 and 2035 to maintain reliability, yet only 888 miles were built in 2024. Research cited there suggested modernisation tools could unlock more than 80 gigawatts of incremental peak capacity by reducing congestion and easing connection delays.
Another pressure point is the supply chain itself. Reuters reported in December that demand for U. S. generation step-up transformers jumped 274% between 2019 and 2025, citing Wood Mackenzie. Long lead times for transformers, switchgear and other heavy electrical equipment have become a central concern for utilities and developers, particularly those trying to connect hyperscale data centres. Against that backdrop, even a comparatively modest $10 million engineering and integration facility carries strategic weight if it speeds deployment, validates systems faster and brings technical expertise closer to customers.
Hitachi Energy is also giving the Cary site a cybersecurity role, saying it will become the company’s global hub for advanced cybersecurity offerings tied to grid connection systems. That reflects another shift in the market: as grids become more digital and more dependent on software-based controls, the boundary between physical infrastructure and cyber resilience is narrowing. For utilities and large power users, the promise of faster grid connections now comes with an equally pressing demand for protection against increasingly sophisticated threats targeting critical infrastructure.
The project marks another step in a broader push by the Zurich-based company to deepen its North American footprint at a time when grid equipment suppliers are being pulled into one of the biggest infrastructure build-outs in decades. Hitachi Energy said the Cary site will help shorten delivery times for technologies used to improve voltage stability, relieve congestion on existing lines and connect large loads more quickly, without always waiting for new transmission corridors to be built.
State and federal officials used the announcement to underline both the local jobs message and the strategic dimension of the investment. Hitachi Energy said U. S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright attended an on-site event in North Carolina, while Governor Josh Stein and Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley backed the expansion as a sign of the state’s appeal for advanced energy manufacturing and engineering. For North Carolina, the project also strengthens the Research Triangle’s standing as a centre for power, software and industrial technology talent.
For Hitachi Energy, the Cary development is not an isolated bet. The company said the new site forms part of the $1 billion U. S. manufacturing programme it announced in 2025, which also includes a large power transformer factory in South Boston, Virginia, and other capacity additions meant to localise supply chains. That larger plan was framed by the company as a response to mounting pressure on grid infrastructure from artificial intelligence computing, factory electrification and the wider shift towards electricity as the backbone of economic growth.
The business case is being strengthened by hard numbers from the power sector. The International Energy Agency said U. S. electricity demand rose 2.1% in 2025 and is projected to grow by nearly 2% a year through 2030, with about half of that increase linked to data centre expansion. Reuters, citing the U. S. Energy Information Administration, reported that nationwide electricity load is forecast to rise 1.9% in 2026 and 2.5% in 2027, after years when demand was largely flat. That change is forcing utilities, regulators and equipment makers to rethink how quickly capacity can be added and how existing grids can be used more intensively.
The Cary centre is designed to serve precisely that gap between demand growth and the slow timetable of traditional transmission expansion. Hitachi Energy said the site will support products such as STATCOMs, fixed series compensation systems, synchronous condenser systems and advanced grid control devices. Those technologies are aimed at squeezing more performance from the network already in place, helping operators stabilise power quality, increase transmission capacity and reduce bottlenecks. In practical terms, that means utilities can defer or complement large transmission projects that often take years to permit and build.
That theme is being echoed across the industry. Reuters Events reported in March that U. S. grid owners are stepping up spending on so-called grid-enhancing technologies because new high-voltage lines remain slow, expensive and politically difficult to build. The same report said the Department of Energy estimates the U. S. would need roughly 5,000 miles of new high-capacity transmission every year between 2025 and 2035 to maintain reliability, yet only 888 miles were built in 2024. Research cited there suggested modernisation tools could unlock more than 80 gigawatts of incremental peak capacity by reducing congestion and easing connection delays.
Another pressure point is the supply chain itself. Reuters reported in December that demand for U. S. generation step-up transformers jumped 274% between 2019 and 2025, citing Wood Mackenzie. Long lead times for transformers, switchgear and other heavy electrical equipment have become a central concern for utilities and developers, particularly those trying to connect hyperscale data centres. Against that backdrop, even a comparatively modest $10 million engineering and integration facility carries strategic weight if it speeds deployment, validates systems faster and brings technical expertise closer to customers.
Hitachi Energy is also giving the Cary site a cybersecurity role, saying it will become the company’s global hub for advanced cybersecurity offerings tied to grid connection systems. That reflects another shift in the market: as grids become more digital and more dependent on software-based controls, the boundary between physical infrastructure and cyber resilience is narrowing. For utilities and large power users, the promise of faster grid connections now comes with an equally pressing demand for protection against increasingly sophisticated threats targeting critical infrastructure.
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