Central Illinois Electrical League Member Spotlight
Altorfer Machinery Company was founded on February 4th, 1957 by the late Edward J. Altorfer. Ed had previously worked in the family washing machine business, called Altorfer Brothers Company, in East Peoria, IL. He was introduced to the Caterpillar business by his good friend, Buck Swords, who at that time owned Peoria Tractor and Equipment Company, the Caterpillar dealer in Peoria. At its beginning, Altorfer Machinery Company had stores in Cedar Rapids, IA, Davenport, IA, and Hannibal, MO, and employed about 100 people. Ed enjoyed this business very much, and in 1967 had the opportunity to expand into a second dealership which he called Capitol Machinery Company with stores in Springfield, IL and Champaign, IL.
The companies continued to grow as Altorfer Machinery acquired the Lift Truck business in 1973, and Capitol Machinery acquired Peoria Tractor and Equipment in 1986. Both companies continued this growth through the late 1980’s and 1990’s, and on Jan. 1, 1998, they merged into one company, which was named Altorfer Inc.
In 2018, the Altorfer family was able to expand their business again with the acquisition of Patten Industries, Inc., the Caterpillar® dealer in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana.
The mission of Altorfer is to live and work by Ed’s motto: “Tell it like it is.” It’s the only way to approach business when you represent a manufacturer whose name is synonymous with quality and integrity. Caterpillar is the world’s largest and most respected heavy equipment manufacturer, and we’re proud to carry the company’s full line of construction and mining equipment, work tools, power systems and lift trucks. In addition to Cat® equipment, we are an authorized dealer for Mitsubishi forklifts, JLG telehandlers, FENDT and CLAAS agricultural equipment, and Trail King trailers. We offer sales, rental, parts and expert service for all our equipment lines.
Electrical Updates
Explosive electricity demand projected
- Grid is weakest link in the electrical system.
- Interconnection delays can take years, but new AI tools may cut that to months.
- Grid constraints are already limiting new projects.
Grid Infrastructure is struggling to keep up
- AI and Data Centers are now the #1 Driver of electricity growth worldwide.
- Data centers could consume up to 12% of US electricity by 2026.
- Some estimates show global data center demand growing 14-17%
Result
There will be massive investments in transmission, substations and transformers.
Trillions being invested in power infrastructure.
- U.S. utilities expected to spend $1.1 trillion on grid updates.
- Companies like Siemens Energy are building new factories and expanding grid equipment production.
AI is transforming Operations
- AI is being used for Load forecasting, Real time grid balancing, Predictive maintenance.
- Virtual Power Plants use AI to manage distributed energy sources.
Renewables still growing but hitting limits
- Renewables, natural gas and nuclear will supply all new electricity demand through 2030.
- Solar Growth is slowing after record expansion.
- Grid congestion is limiting renewable connections.
Supply Chain Bottlenecks still exist
- There are massive shortages in transformers and Grid hardware. (For example one chip factory may take 400-500 transformers).
Policy and Pricing changes are emerging everywhere
- Governments are charging large energy users like AI/data centers more.
- Governments are adjusting climate policies to avoid blackouts.
Electrification of Everything
- We will see rapid growth in EVs, Industrial electrification, Smart Buildings
What this means for Electrical Distributors:
- Expansion of warehouses near data center hubs
- Stocking more switchgear, cable, transformers and backup power equipment
- Building with relationships with hyperscalers such as Amazon or Google
- Distributors can expect 5% growth in 2026 however demand will be uneven by region and sector
