How long power takes

National Grid publishes the most stage durations of the utilities read. Its process document gives three business days to assign an engineer and ten to say whether capacity is readily available, and its new service page adds about 15 business days of engineering review to design. Central Hudson's page gives about 16 weeks for its engineering study, and UI gives six to eight weeks for developments after complete information.

Those are the utility's own stages. They cover paperwork and design. The same National Grid document warns that building the system changes needed to serve a large electrification load, from engineering through construction, "could take months, or years."

Equipment lead times

A Wood Mackenzie report from July 2025, reported by the Congressional Research Service and by EEPower, put second-quarter 2025 lead times at about 128 weeks for power transformers, about 44 weeks for switchgear and about 30 weeks for distribution transformers. The 30-week figure appears in the Wood Mackenzie report and not in the CRS summary. No newer firm figure was located, and lead times shift with orders.

What site selectors say

Bisnow reported on October 13, 2026 on a survey of site-selection consultants. It found that 79 percent ranked power at the top of their criteria and that more than half said a lack of power is a leading reason to drop a site. The respondents come from the 72-member Site Selectors Guild, and the report gives no response count. It shows what a small group of consultants say they weigh.

A named case

The Post-Journal in Jamestown, New York reported on December 18, 2025 on Maplevale Farms, a grower seeking power for an expansion. As of October 1, 2025, the report says, National Grid could not say when power would be available or how much the connection would cost. A timeline of about two years was later described as 18 months, after the county industrial development agency proposed additional tax breaks. The article does not say the two are linked. It cites an added cost estimate of $1.5 million to $3 million. This is one grower's account, and the utility's side is not in it.

Large loads

In March 2026, National Grid published a staged process for requests above 10 MW at 115 kV or higher, and above 80 MW below 115 kV:

These are National Grid's published figures for that process. Below it, Step Zero applies. The process document limits requests by distribution voltage: up to 1 MW at 4.16 or 4.8 kV and up to 2.5 MW at 13.2 kV, with demands above 2.5 MVA going to engineering review. The pages read publish no separate stage durations for loads between that review and the large-load thresholds.

The New York Public Service Commission opened Case 26-E-0045 on large loads with an order on February 12, 2026. The order does not define "large load," sets no megawatt threshold and adds no filing requirement for new customers. Its appendix poses eight questions for comment, and it calls for a technical conference before December 31, 2026. As of October 24, 2026, the proceeding is open and the measures in it are proposals. Three items bear on a first utility conversation: whether the Commission defines a threshold, whether it adds a disclosure requirement for requesters, and whether it changes who pays for studies.

What the durations leave out

The published stages describe a single request that moves without delay. They do not include time waiting for information from the applicant, time for permits or easements, or time for equipment. The Maplevale account suggests the gap between the published process and an actual connection can be wide, and that a first answer can be "we cannot yet say."

Pages read October 22, 2026.