Back around 2005, a major transformer (about the size of a boxcar) that was one of several first-line stepdown transformers for electrical transmission lines coming into Phoenix blew up.
Until it was replaced, there were constant concerns about having to go to rolling blackouts (middle of summer).
The nearest replacement was somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.
Transporting it to Phoenix involved transporting it by barge to Los Angeles, then putting it on a heavy-lift truck and driving it 400 miles at 5 mph.
Then, it had to be installed.
What happens if an EMP attack destroys half of all the transformers of that type in the country? Note that those transformers are particularly susceptible to EMP damage because they are attached to very long wires.
>> “Note that those transformers are particularly susceptible to EMP damage because they are attached to very long wires.” <<
.
A large percentage of them are well fused to protect them. Depends on where you are.
And the largest of those transformers are, now, mostly Made in China.
And given the nature of the attack, China might decide our credit was bad and refuse to sell them to us.
Then what?