WSP Broadens Role in U.S. Power, Data Center Development

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Written by Will Ploch, Assistant Editor-in-Chief for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

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Summary

Two recent acquisitions have boosted engineering firm WSP's role in the North American Power Industry, but the company also maintains a strong presence in the transportation sector, with a growing role in data center development.

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Power to the People

WSP Global Incorporated is turning up opportunities by the billions in North America, where its order backlog reached a record $20.1 billion worth of projects during second-quarter 2026, a 23.2% jump from the same period last year. Executives attributed WSP's strongest organic backlog growth since 2022 to demand from the Power Industry. Industrial Info Resources is tracking more than $73 billion worth of active and proposed projects across the U.S. and Canada featuring WSP's services, nearly half of which is attributed to public transportation developments.

While transportation's share of the total might seem commanding, it actually is much smaller than its share of the portfolio in past years. In a quarterly earnings-related conference call last week, Alexandre L'Heureux, the chief executive officer of WSP, pointed to its acquisitions of TRC earlier this year and POWER Engineers in 2024--as well as its acquisitions of Golder and Wood E&I earlier in the decade--as transformational to WSP's U.S. business.

"Today, 35% to 40% of our business is in power," L'Heureux said in the earnings call. "I'm looking at the pipeline of opportunities, and I'm looking at the sub-backlog, and I'm looking at the collaboration between our sectors, and I'm very excited about the future prospect of WSP in the U.S."

According to Industrial Info Resources data, about $10.5 billion worth of North American projects featuring WSP's services are in the Power Industry, led by Iberdrola S.A.'s Vineyard Windfarm offshore Nantucket. But that project, designed to generate up to 800 megawatts (MW), is mired in a legal dispute between its owner and technology provider GE Verona.

Industrial Info Resources offers more information on the Vineyard Windfarm in its Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database, where readers can find details--including construction schedules, investment values and necessary equipment--in a project report; readers also can consult Industrial Info's April 14, 2026, article - Contract Dispute Threatens Future of Vineyard Wind Offshore Windfarm.

While Vineyard is the single highest-valued power-generation project, most of the U.S. Power Industry investments featuring WSP are in the transmission and distribution (T&D) sector. Two such projects for South Texas Electric Cooperative Incorporated started construction in fourth-quarter 2025: a 132-mile line from Christine to Realitos, Texas, and a 26-mile line from Campbellton to Three Rivers, Texas.

The 132-mile line is entirely new, while the existing 26-mile line is set to undergo reconductoring to replace outdated components. Readers can learn more from detailed reports on the Christine-to-Realitos and Campbellton-to-Three Rivers projects.

L'Heureux said WSP's power and energy business "continues to expand rapidly in the U.S., supported by heightened bid and proposal activity with investor-owned utilities. In this market, net revenues and hard backlog from our top 40 global power clients in the U.S. increased 15% and 20% year-over-year, respectively."

By the Numbers

• More than $73 billion: Total investment value of projects across the U.S. and Canada featuring WSP's services
• About $10.5 billion: Share of these projects in the Power Industry
• $20.1 billion: WSP's record-high order backlog at the end of second-quarter 2026

Big Cities and Big Data

WSP's revenues for the second quarter totaled $5.4 billion, a 19.9% increase from second-quarter 2025. Net earnings were reported to be $246.1 million, an 11.9% decrease, which executives attributed, in part, to higher acquisition and integration expenses.

Transportation projects, which make up the lion's share of active and proposed investments featuring WSP, include major projects in some of the largest cities in North America. The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority brought WSP on as an engineer for its massive 2nd Avenue subway expansion in East Harlem, which is designed to relieve overcrowding on New York's Lexington Avenue Line, while Amtrak hired WSP for upgrades to the Frederick Douglass Tunnel in Baltimore, Maryland.

Both projects are years-long developments that involve other widely recognized engineering firms, such as AECOM and Kiewit Corporation. Readers can consult detailed reports on the New York subway and Frederick Douglass Tunnel projects.

Data centers are an emerging component of WSP's portfolio. The company already is involved in nearly $6 billion worth of data center construction in North America, including several projects for Microsoft Corporation, such as the addition of buildings SAT89 and SAT90 at a campus in Castroville, Texas. Construction on SAT89 started roughly one year ago, while SAT90 kicked off earlier this year.

Microsoft's expansion is part of a broader surge in hyperscale data center investment intended to bolster capacity for cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) computing. Readers can learn more from detailed reports on the SAT89 and SAT90 projects.

The Industrial Info Resources GMI Project and Plant databases offer a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and a full list of related plant profiles.

Industrial Info Resources also offers a full list of reports for active and proposed projects across the U.S. and Canada featuring WSP's services.

Key Takeaways

• Major acquisitions have boosted WSP's role in the North American Power Industry.
• Transportation projects make up the lion's share of active and proposed investments featuring WSP in North America.
• Data centers are an emerging component of WSP's portfolio, including work for titans like Microsoft.

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About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news, and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing, and energy-related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified, and verified plant and project opportunities. Across the world, Industrial Info Resources is tracking over 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 trillion (USD).