RSQ, Yes, indeed!!! Maintenance needs to be done continuously - at a low level. So, when the funds stop, there is a period of time when the good stewardship runs on. Then it runs out ...
We saw this in the UK. Thatcher chopped off maintenance to British Railways to save money. Ten years later, and we started to have derailments and minor prangs, then we had the first medium sized one. Those that said, "Told you so" were ignored. Then the BIIIG prang - NOW the politicos jump in and start huffing and puffing and blaming the commercial companies.
Your electric power infrastructure has used up all the inbuilt leeway and fat and sensible over capacity. To catch up will take more than 13 years and, if history is any guide, will never happen.