Power Insights Publishes 2026 North American Electric Transmission Market Forecast
Power Insights Publishes 2026 North American Electric Transmission Market Forecast
North American Transmission Spend Reaches Over $65 Billion in 2025 and is on Track to Surpass $100 Billion Annually by the End of the Decade
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Power Insights today announced the release of its 2026 North American Electric Transmission Market Forecast, offering the industry's most comprehensive, data-driven analysis of grid investment across the U.S. and Canada from 2015 through 2030.
Load growth and the data center expansion have become a powerful economic driver for grid expansion and utilities are investing in new and upgraded lines, substations and generation capacity to serve this load reliably.
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The forecast leverages Power Insights' rigorous bottom-up, utility-by-utility and project-by-project methodology, incorporating insights from more than 200 utilities, 60 holding companies, 30 transmission developers, and hundreds of new electric generation and data center projects. Together, these analyses give stakeholders actionable intelligence to navigate a period of unprecedented load growth, shifting federal policy, and persistent supply chain and labor constraints.
The North American electric transmission market grew over 10% between 2024 to 2025, driven by large load interconnection, new generation, and the renewal of aging infrastructure. Investor-owned utilities remain the backbone of the market, while a growing share of spend is being funded directly by large load data center customers to fund necessary transmission and substation network upgrades.
Key Highlights of the 2026 Forecast
- Historical and Forecasted Spend (2015–2030): Segment-level analysis across investor-owned utilities, municipal and government-owned utilities, cooperatives, Canadian utilities, non-traditional utilities, generation developers, and data center campus substations
- Transmission Segment Analysis: Capital expenditures for the largest IOU holding companies across substations, poles, towers, overhead conductors, underground lines, and more
- Transmission Line Mile and Substation Counts: Projections of new and upgraded transmission line miles and substations by voltage class and end use
- Data Center Impact: Data center forecast and its impact on load growth, including the on-site data center campus transmission substation investment
- New Generation: Forecast of generation capacity additions and key drivers across utility-scale solar, wind, natural gas, and BESS
- Policy Impacts: Examination of federal tax credit and foreign-entity restrictions, permitting and interconnection reform, and large-load tariffs
“Load growth and the data center expansion have become a powerful economic driver for grid expansion and utilities are investing in new and upgraded lines, substations and generation capacity to serve this load reliably,” said Jean Rollins, one of the principal authors. “Our 2026 Forecast gives stakeholders the actionable insight they need to navigate a market that is both structurally larger, increasingly constrained and buffeted by policy changes.”
For more information about Power Insights’ North American Electric Transmission & Distribution Market Forecasts, please contact:
Media and Information Contact:
Power Insights
Email: Forecasts@power-insights.com
About Power Insights
Power Insights is a strategy and analytics firm specializing in energy infrastructure, utilities, and the energy transition. With deep expertise in commercial diligence, data-driven research, and strategic advisory, the firm supports clients across critical infrastructure and energy markets in navigating complex challenges and opportunities.
Contacts
Media and Information Contact:
Power Insights
Email: Forecasts@power-insights.com
