A great product is only half the equation; you’re simply not a good supplier if you can’t deliver it when needed.Jay Shekelton

Alan Ross: Welcome, Jay, it’s a pleasure to finally sit down with you here at DistribuTech 2025. This event is always a hive of activity, and it feels like the energy in the industry has never been higher. First off, for those who might not know your extensive background, could you share a bit about how you first entered the power industry and what drew you to it?

Jay Shekelton: Alan, it’s great to be here, and thank you for having me. My entry into the power industry wasn’t a conventional path, but it was certainly a deeply rooted one. It’s very much a family business for us. My grandfather was involved as a manufacturer’s representative, carving out a niche for himself. My father then followed in his footsteps, starting to work for him at a remarkably young age – just nine years old. Imagine that, coming home from school and heading straight to the basement to take customer orders. St. Louis, where they were based, was a hub for transformer manufacturing at the time, with major players like Moloney Electric and Wagner Electric. My grandfather called on these companies frequently, selling them a substantial amount of product.

Alan: That’s an incredible legacy to start from. A true pedigree, as they say. It paints a vivid picture of the industry’s early days and the hands-on approach your family had. So, your grandfather and father were building this rep agency, establishing connections and a reputation. What happened next that led to H-J as we know it today?

Jay: Well, the agency grew through the years. In 1962, they secured a line of products that included castings and connectors from Torrenton, Connecticut. The quality of these products was exceptional, absolutely great quality. However, there was a significant problem: they consistently failed to deliver on time. This created a huge dilemma for my family, because their reputation was built on delivering good products, and that also meant being a reliable supplier. To protect their name and, more importantly, to protect their customers from being in trouble due to these delays, they made a tough but principled decision. They actually went to all their customers and told them to stop buying from that specific supplier. They essentially got rid of that line of castings because the delivery issues were just too detrimental.

Alan: That’s a remarkable example of integrity in business, telling customers to stop buying from you to protect them. It truly highlights the importance of reliability beyond just product quality.

Jay: Exactly. A great product is only half the equation; you’re simply not a good supplier if you can’t deliver it when needed. This situation, though challenging, became a pivotal moment for our family. My father, who was around 24 or 25 years old at the time, saw an opportunity. He convinced my grandfather, who was in his late sixties he had my father later in life – to basically start up another company. They began by trying to buy castings themselves but quickly realized that buying wasn’t enough; they needed to control the process. So, they took the ambitious step of starting their own foundry.

Alan: So, H-J was born out of a commitment to quality and, crucially, to reliable delivery. And from those humble beginnings, where did the company go? I understand it’s grown quite a bit.

Jay: Absolutely. When I joined H-J full time, which was about 40-odd years ago, we were a team of 32 employees. Today, I’m proud to say we have 900 employees. It’s been an incredible journey of growth, all stemming from that foundational model: taking care of the customer and doing an honest day’s work for an honest dollar. That philosophy has resonated deeply with people, allowing us to continuously grow and build a truly great team.

Alan: That’s phenomenal growth, Jay. From 32 to 900 employees, that’s not just growth, that’s scaling an enterprise while clearly maintaining those core values. Moving to the broader industry, you’ve been in this business for decades. I’d surmise, and I think many would agree, that the last five years have seen more change than the fifty years preceding them. What are some of the most significant transformations you’ve witnessed in the power industry, and where have they brought us today?

Jay: Alan, your surmise is absolutely correct; the pace of change has been nothing short of astounding. My gosh, it’s been more in the last five years than the fifty previous. For a long time, many transformer manufacturers weren’t making much money; there was significant overcapacity in the industry. But now, all of a sudden, with the rapid advancements in technology, the landscape has completely shifted. We’re seeing the electrification of cars, the proliferation of charging stations, and the immense demand from AI data centers – these factors are causing the demand for electricity to simply skyrocket.

Alan: That explosion in demand must be forcing a lot of new investment, new approaches.

Jay: Precisely. We’re seeing a lot of companies investing heavily to improve and expand their facilities. Interestingly, there’s also a significant shift in offshore manufacturing; where many manufacturers previously offshore production, they are now bringing their products into the States, something they weren’t really doing in the past. We’ve also observed a very strong interest in larger transformers. While single-face pads and poles are unfortunately down right now, the larger transformers are performing much better.

Beyond just hardware, there’s a huge wave of investment in new technologies. Data collection from transformers and lines, analyzed with the solar industry and distributed generation, has changed everything. The rise of solar fields and wind farms has fundamentally altered how energy is generated and managed. The energy profile from these renewable sources is very different from traditional gas and coal. This means utilities and manufacturers have had to significantly redesign their products to be successful and to cut down on interruptions caused by these new, variable energy sources.

Alan: You’re absolutely right. We used to have a relatively consistent load profile – predictable and steady. That’s no longer the case. Load profiles are now erratic, all across the board.

Jay: Indeed. Imagine a wind farm or a solar array; you can go from zero to 110% load immediately, and then back to zero just as quickly. This variability has forced our customers – the utilities – to completely redesign their transformers to accommodate these fluctuations. In turn, this had a direct impact on us. Many of our products, which had worked reliably for “forever and ever” in standard utility configurations, suddenly weren’t performing as they should. So, it became a collaborative effort. We had to work as a team – with the utilities, the OEMs, and ourselves – to redesign products specifically for this evolving industry.

Alan: And it’s not just the fluctuating loads from renewables. It feels like some very old debates are resurfacing. The classic AC/DC argument, the one Tesla, Edison, and Westinghouse famously had, seems to be back. People are now talking about direct current again, perhaps for microgrids. This must be another challenge utilities are grappling with.

Jay: You’re spot on, Alan. The AC/DC argument is definitely back. Utilities are facing this whole new set of considerations. It’s definitely a complex challenge. And beyond that, another significant issue is the explosive load growth. You mentioned an 8% load growth, which is astonishing in an industry that has been relatively flat for years. That’s a hockey stick growth curve.

Alan: It truly is. Here in Georgia, Southern Company is reporting an 8% load growth, coupled with a new nuclear plant that just came online – the first in 30 years – and it’s already sold out. The demand from AI data centers, particularly in North Atlanta, is unprecedented. Every utility is experiencing something they’ve never encountered before.

Jay: This massive, unexpected growth is a game-changer. And on the topic of nuclear, I believe the nuclear argument is making a comeback. People are starting to recognize its benefits once more. Last year, I was in Europe, visiting many of our customers there. Bringing up nuclear power is almost a taboo subject in many countries, with the notable exception of France, which has a significant nuclear energy infrastructure. Germany, for instance, got rid of its nuclear plants, while France maintained and even expanded theirs.

Alan: Germany did indeed get rid of it. But France has been a steadfast proponent.

Jay: In my opinion, it’s a great alternative to our current energy mix, and it has a very strong safety record. In Missouri, we have the Callaway plant, and while plans for a second plant never materialized, they are now extending the life of the existing facility. So, I see a lot of opportunities opening up in our industry, especially with new designs.

Alan: Absolutely. The new modular designs for nuclear plants, with smaller, easier footprints, quicker construction times, they promise to overcome some of the traditional hurdles. It’s just about getting past the word “nuclear” and the fear associated with it. I heard something about a modular nuclear project possibly being struck down.

Jay: I’m not entirely sure of the specifics, but I believe there was a project, possibly with Microsoft looking at one, and another company was bringing on a nuclear plant, planning to purchase all its power for two decades. So, yes, there’s significant upheaval and innovation. Beyond nuclear, hydrogen is another technology people are looking at very strongly. I recently saw an article that Coca Cola is even developing hydrogen-run vending machines – no plugs, just a hydrogen module.

Alan: Hydrogen-run vending machines! That’s truly innovative. And didn’t France recently discover a massive white hydrogen deposit off the coast of one of their islands? They’re saying it could supply the world for 20 or 30 years.

Jay: Yes, that’s amazing news. It’s naturally occurring, ready to go. What we’re seeing is an incredible surge of innovation. Our industry, for many years, had been quite stagnant. We had a lot of, shall we say, conservatives. The mindset was, “If it works, it works, don’t change it”. But now, we’re seeing a new generation of engineers coming in, actively seeking out new technologies and new ways of doing things. This really gives me hope for the future. We’re finally moving beyond doing things the same way “forever and ever” and embracing new designs and opportunities. It’s wonderful.

Alan: That shift in mindset, from conservative to innovative, is crucial. But what does the future look like in terms of the challenges associated with this adoption of new technologies? Historically, the utility industry has been very much a “you first, then I’ll do it” kind of environment. What do you foresee as the challenges facing utilities in the next 5 to 10 years that they might not even be fully contending with today?

Jay: Well, they are certainly facing some significant challenges today that will only intensify. First, there are labor shortages, and frankly, the quality of engineers is, unfortunately, getting worse. There’s also the issue of people not staying in jobs for long, constantly jumping from one opportunity to another. These factors make it incredibly tough to build institutional knowledge and long-term expertise.

Perhaps the biggest challenge will be the sheer energy demand. The innovation that should have happened over the last 20 years, that “me too” approach you mentioned, didn’t fully materialize. Now, utilities are being forced to innovate at an unprecedented pace just to keep up with the power demand. The core challenge will be how to upgrade our grids to provide stable power to the entire country. This will require massive investments – a lot of money and a lot of time – and then, critically, figuring out how to implement these changes.

We’re already hearing about incredible advancements, like cables with new technology that can almost double or triple the amount of power flowing through the same size cable. There are so many things that need to be figured out in the next few years to meet our growing demands.

Alan: It’s fascinating how even something as seemingly basic as a cable can be revolutionized. Ben Lanz, one of our executive editors, formed PDI², an organization focused on technology changes in cables. And many people, like you said, initially think, “Cables? Seriously? It’s just copper and wire!” But clearly, it’s not anymore.

Jay: No, it’s absolutely not. I recently had someone contact me about nanotechnology for carbon fiber. They believe they can create electric cables out of  these nanotubes. They were explaining that temperature isn’t an issue, and these cables can deliver two to three times more power through the same size cable.

I hadn’t even considered nanotube technology from a carbon fiber perspective for power delivery. But here it is, a scientist somewhere developing this new product. I truly believe the rate of innovation happening in this country is skyrocketing. Of course, there will be good ideas and bad ones, so the trick will be discerning which ones will truly survive and be adopted.

Alan: That’s a crucial point. At the IEEE Grid Edge conference, you mentioned being on the planning committee, and seeing all these venture capital pitches. You must witness incredible innovations there.

Jay: The innovations were just amazing. But sadly, as I looked at many of these companies, I couldn’t help but think, “You’re not going to be here in a few years.” The technology might be amazing, but it won’t be adopted if it’s too proprietary. This industry, especially utilities, is vehemently saying, “We need interoperability.” We can’t have a situation where one company has its proprietary “thing” and we’re expected to trust it blindly. It has to be able to communicate and integrate with all our existing systems.

Alan: Exactly. That’s a huge hurdle. Many brilliant concepts fail because they try to keep everything under wraps.

Jay: You’ve got to open up your doors a little bit, let people see what they can do with your product, how it can integrate and become part of a larger solution.

Alan: Jay, thank you so much for this incredibly insightful conversation. It’s been a privilege to hear about H-J’s journey and your perspective on the industry’s exciting, albeit challenging, future.

Jay: Thank you, Alan. It was a pleasure to speak with you.