Can a New Alliance Rescue the Aging Power Grid?

Hitachi Energy, Blackstone, and Shermco teams up to speed North America’s overdue grid makeover

18 Nov 2025

North America’s power grid is feeling its age. Demand from data centres, electric vehicles and energy hungry factories is rising faster than utilities can cope. On October 30th 2025 Hitachi Energy, Blackstone Energy Transition Partners and Shermco unveiled a pact they hope will loosen long standing bottlenecks and push the industry to confront decades of underinvestment.

The plan centres on servicing the kit that keeps the system running. Hitachi Energy will take a minority stake in Shermco, joining Blackstone’s investment platform to expand maintenance for transformers, breakers and other essential equipment. The aim is quicker repairs, better diagnostics and a sturdier backbone for a grid that is buckling under new loads.

Analysts say the timing is overdue. Much of the network was built for a different era; utilities are scrambling to keep up with the digital economy. One consultant called the collaboration a rare mix of technology, capital and skilled labour, and suggested it may jolt the sector into action.

Shermco's crews, mainstays at data centres and industrial sites, supply field muscle. Hitachi brings engineering depth; Blackstone adds money and scale. Together they hope to expand service operations across America. Executives say the approach will help utilities respond faster and improve resilience, noting that reliability now rivals expansion as a priority.

Sceptics fret that big alliances could raise competition worries or complicate cybersecurity. Yet most observers still see clear gains. Every region faces the same problem: how to modernise ageing infrastructure for an era of accelerating electricity demand.

With investment in grid upgrades set to swell in the coming decade, the trio is staking an early claim. For utilities, firms and households, the move hints at a grid that may finally be ready for what comes next.