WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Aug. 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TrueLook, a jobsite camera and visibility platform for construction teams, released its 2026 Utilities Construction Market Benchmark Report, a data-driven look at bid timelines, project value, and capital concentration across the public-sector utilities construction market.

The report draws on more than 3,500 unique public-sector infrastructure projects with 2026 bid dates, spanning 10 utility sectors, including electric transmission, gas, water supply, wastewater, and power generation, across 51 states and territories.

Among the findings:

  • Capital is highly concentrated. Just 46 megaprojects, 1.4% of the tracked portfolio by count, account for $5.8 billion of the $15.42 billion in total tracked 2026 spend, or 37.6% of all dollars.
  • Most work is small and dispersed. Fewer than 1 in 12 projects with disclosed values exceed $10 million, and only 18 projects nationwide top $100 million.
  • The runway from bid to ground-breaking is short. The market-wide median is 45 days, with the middle 50% of projects breaking ground somewhere between 31 and 60 days after bid.
  • Ten states account for half the market. 50.3% of all tracked projects sit in just the top 10 states, with Texas alone responsible for 14.2%, more than double the next closest state.
  • Service and maintenance work is a bigger slice than it looks. 31% of tracked bid volume is service, maintenance, and supply work rather than new construction, and it carries its own documentation demands even at a fraction of the project value.

"Every one of these projects shares the same operational reality: work is spread across dispersed sites, crews move fast, and the people who need visibility are rarely standing on site to get it," said Scott Dowd, Solutions Engineer at TrueLook. "That's the throughline in this report, and it's the gap our jobsite intelligence platform closes."

The report also breaks down cost baselines by sector keyword and by awarding agency level, finding that median project value swings 6x depending on sector, from a $400,000 sewage median to a $2.5 million electric transmission median, and that federal projects carry both the highest median value ($2.05 million) and the heaviest documentation burden.

For the typical project in this market, small or midsize, spread across a multi-state footprint, without a dedicated on-site presence, the report's authors point to remote visibility as the practical alternative to windshield time: confirming mobilization, documenting work before it's buried or enclosed, and giving stakeholders a shared view of progress without a site visit.

The full report, including sector-by-sector cost baselines and a breakdown of cost by awarding agency, is available at truelook.com/utilities-benchmark.

About TrueLook

For more than 20 years, TrueLook has helped construction teams improve visibility across the jobsite. Today, as a leading provider of intelligent jobsite visibility solutions, TrueLook supports thousands of customers across North America with connected cameras, live viewing, automated time-lapse, AI-powered analytics, and advanced monitoring capabilities that strengthen security, document progress, and provide clearer insight into jobsite activity from start to finish. Learn more at truelook.com.

Media Contact
Allison Shaub
Chief Marketing Officer
allison.shaub@truelook.com