What Is Your Electrical Business Worth in 2026?
Editorial update: October 14, 2026. Original reporting dates are unchanged.
Private equity is buying electrical contractors. What a buyer pays depends on the work a company does, its licensed staff, repeat service revenue, and reliance on a few customers. Talk of a coming wave cannot price a shop.
Why electrical, and why now
How hot, exactly
What electrical businesses actually sell for
How a buyer reads your business: assets, liabilities, and booked work
The timing question
Frequently asked questions
- Buyers that assembled HVAC and plumbing companies are also buying electrical contractors. Data-center, grid, and electrification work draws interest, but deals vary by company.
- Private equity accounted for roughly three quarters of electrical contractor M&A in PitchBook’s cited measure. Cascade Partners counted about 140 electrical deals in 2024 and 99 in 2025.
- In nearly all 20 large metros reviewed, the most-reviewed electrical listing belonged to a multi-service company. Review counts do not measure electrical revenue or market share.
- Reported ranges run about 3 to 5 times SDE for owner-run shops and 5 to 8 times EBITDA for contractors with managers and service work. Some commercial, industrial, and data-center deals reach 9 times or more when crews and signed work support the price.
- Buyers can verify master and journeyman licenses, crew retention, and how hard the workforce would be to replace.
- Owner dependence, customer concentration, weak records, safety costs, and limited bonding can affect an offer. The size of each risk depends on the business.
Buyers that assembled HVAC and plumbing companies are also acquiring electrical contractors. That overlap matters to an owner: a combined-trades platform may want the licensed staff and service capacity, while also competing for residential calls. Increased buyer interest does not establish that every electrical shop will receive a premium offer.
Recent deals offer a starting point, but owners also need to look at what a buyer can verify in their own shop. This review covers demand for electrical work, reported prices, and the role of licensed staff, service contracts, and commercial customers in a sale.
Why electrical, and why now
Electrical contractors appear in both service-platform acquisitions and larger construction deals. The Great Trades Roll-Up describes the broader pattern. The employer-establishment count, buyer-share estimate, and reported deal prices describe different parts of this market; none alone establishes rising demand for every contractor.
Buyers are watching several kinds of electrical work. Data centers need large crews. Changes to heating equipment, vehicles, and appliances can bring panel upgrades and service calls. Industrial and grid projects may require specific licenses and bonding. The CHIPS Act and energy legislation may help fund some projects. Each job still has its own customer, bid, and schedule. None guarantees work for an individual shop.
The 2023 Census count includes roughly 83,000 electrical employer establishments. About one in eight has 20 or more employees. Buyers looking for an anchor company have a narrower field than the full establishment count suggests, while smaller shops may fit an add-on strategy. The count describes employer establishments, not the number of contractors currently seeking a sale.
How hot, exactly
In PitchBook’s cited deal set, private equity accounted for roughly three quarters of electrical contractor M&A. Its first-half 2025 deal flow exceeded its full-year 2024 total. Some HVAC and plumbing platforms have also bought electrical operations. Those figures cover specific deals. They cannot predict whether a given contractor will sell or at what price.
Cascade Partners counted about 140 electrical deals in 2024 and 99 in 2025. Its analysis describes a shift toward larger platform and strategic transactions, but the lower count should not be presented as an increase in total deal volume. In October 2025, MYR Group announced a roughly $328 million acquisition of Valley Electric and Comet Electric to pursue data-center and electrification work. That transaction shows one buyer’s strategy; it does not set a price for a local contractor.
Echelon found the most-reviewed listing tagged for electrical work in each of the 20 largest US metros. The table ranks those listings, not licensed electrical-only contractors.
| Metro | Most-reviewed “electrical” operator | Google reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Charlotte, NC | Morris-Jenkins | 35,404 |
| Phoenix, AZ | Parker & Sons | 34,080 |
| Chicago, IL | Four Seasons Heating, Air Conditioning, Plumbing, Sewer & Electric | 29,439 |
| Dallas, TX | Baker Brothers Plumbing, Air & Electric | 24,544 |
| Columbus, OH | Eco Plumbers, Electricians, and HVAC Technicians | 20,475 |
| Kansas City, MO | Anthony Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electric | 19,470 |
| Houston, TX | John Moore Services | 19,276 |
| Minneapolis, MN | Hero: Plumbing, Heating, Cooling, Drains, Ducts & Electrical | 18,897 |
| Denver, CO | Applewood Plumbing Heating & Electric | 17,318 |
| San Antonio, TX | Jon Wayne Service Company | 16,950 |
| Cincinnati, OH | Apollo Home | 15,939 |
| Orlando, FL | Frank Gay Services | 14,627 |
| Atlanta, GA | TE Certified, Electrical, Plumbing, Heating & Cooling | 12,476 |
| Philadelphia, PA | Harris Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electrical | 12,313 |
| Tampa, FL | And Services | 10,945 |
| Indianapolis, IN | Peterman Brothers Heating Cooling Plumbing | 10,783 |
| Nashville, TN | Hiller Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electrical | 9,791 |
| New York, NY | Service Professionals | 6,620 |
| Miami, FL | Paradise Plumbing, Air & Electric | 5,431 |
| Los Angeles, CA | Powell Electric | 4,074 |
In nearly all of the 20 large metros in Echelon’s review, the most-reviewed electrical provider was a company offering several home services. The names included Parker & Sons in Phoenix, Morris-Jenkins in Charlotte, Baker Brothers in Dallas, and Eco Plumbers in Columbus. Their review counts show how prominently combined-trades brands appear in that particular ranking. Reviews do not by themselves measure electrical revenue, market share, or acquisition activity.
A combined-trades platform can be both a prospective buyer and a residential competitor. An independent contractor should assess each role separately. Strong customer relationships, licensed staff, and documented service work matter more to a buyer than a broad claim that every platform is coming for the shop.
What electrical businesses actually sell for
Sale prices depend on the work a shop does and the risks a buyer takes on.
An owner-run residential or small commercial shop commonly sells for about 3 to 5 times seller’s discretionary earnings (SDE). Buyers often add these shops to a larger business. The owner still runs much of the work, and the systems are thin.
Contractors with managers and a service department commonly sell for about 5 to 8 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). Reported prices for commercial, industrial, or data-center contractors can reach 9 times or more when crews and signed future work support the deal. Some large construction-platform deals have exceeded prices paid by strategic buyers. These ranges cover different businesses. They are not an offer for a particular shop.
Residential electrical work tied to new construction or light renovation can rise and fall with housing activity. Commercial and industrial jobs often involve larger projects and longer customer relationships, but their schedules and margins still need to be checked. Two companies with similar revenue can draw different offers if one has documented repeat service work and the other depends on bids for each new project.
In Echelon’s review of the 20 largest metros, only about 8 percent of electrical operators had more than 100 Google reviews. Federal data shows that a larger share of electrical than roofing establishments has at least 20 employees. These measures count different things. A commercial electrician may have a large crew but few homeowner reviews. A low review count cannot tell a buyer the size or value of its commercial work. The buyer still needs to inspect customers, contracts, staff, and earnings.
How a buyer reads your business: assets, liabilities, and booked work
Buyers examine expected cash flow, not revenue alone. An electrical owner can prepare by separating contracted service, executable project backlog, and work that must be bid again. Each stream carries a different degree of certainty, so the financial records should make the distinction visible.
The assets that actually move the number A buyer can verify the licenses held by master and journeyman electricians and assess how hard that workforce would be to replace. Crew retention and a low experience-modification rating (EMR), a workers’ compensation safety measure, can support a deal. Bonding capacity determines which larger jobs the contractor can bid. Commercial customer relationships and signed maintenance agreements can add predictable work. On the residential side, a website, reviews, and search visibility may help generate leads without paying a third-party platform for every inquiry. A buyer still needs to check what those channels actually produce, rather than assign value to a review count by itself.
The liabilities that get priced in An owner who estimates every job, wins the bids, and retains the crews creates a succession problem for a buyer. Heavy reliance on one or two general contractors can make revenue vulnerable when a contract ends; the article uses roughly 15 percent as a concentration threshold to examine. Buyers also look at a high EMR, limited bonding capacity, working-capital pressure from projects, and exposure to residential construction cycles. Each risk needs a documented assessment, not an automatic discount of the same size.
Booked work counts, but a buyer underwrites it rather than trusting it. A buyer will examine signed contracts or purchase orders behind electrical backlog. Project margin, customer credit, available crews, and the delivery schedule determine whether that work can be completed profitably without the owner on site. Backlog is finite even when it is valuable; signed service and maintenance contracts can renew. Financial statements should keep those streams separate so a buyer can test their different risks.
The timing question
Buyers have pursued electrical contractors, but the cited deal count fell from 2024 to 2025. These figures cannot support a forecast of a higher multiple in 2027. Owners can instead document their licensed staff, commercial and data-center jobs, service contracts, financial records, and managers who run jobs without them. A buyer can inspect those assets whenever a sale becomes relevant.
Owners have several paths. An offer depends on a shop’s earnings, customers, licensed capacity, contracts, and risks. Earlier HVAC deals do not set its price.
Frequently asked questions
What is my electrical business worth in 2026?
An owner-run residential or small commercial shop is commonly quoted at around 3 to 5 times seller’s discretionary earnings (SDE). Contractors with management depth and a service department are commonly quoted at around 5 to 8 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). Reported commercial, industrial, and data-center transactions can reach 9 times or more when the workforce and backlog support the work. Compare the earnings definitions and the actual contracts before applying any of those ranges.
Are electrical companies in demand from buyers right now?
In PitchBook’s cited transaction set, private equity accounted for roughly three quarters of electrical contractor M&A. Buyers have cited data-center, grid, and electrification work, but the article’s separate deal count fell from about 140 in 2024 to 99 in 2025 under Cascade Partners’ measure. Buyer share and total transaction volume answer different questions.
Does commercial or residential electrical sell for more?
Reported pricing differs across residential, commercial, and industrial contractors. Data-center work may support a higher price when contracts, crews, and margins hold up, but exposure alone does not guarantee a premium.
How do I get a higher multiple for my electrical business?
Keep job-level accounts, document contracted service revenue, verify staff licenses, and show who runs projects without the owner. A buyer will also examine safety history, bonding, customer concentration, and whether commercial jobs earn a reliable margin.
What makes an electrical business especially attractive to buyers?
A licensed workforce and signed, profitable work can make a contractor more attractive to a buyer. Data-center or grid projects need the right crews and bonding; naming those markets without executable contracts does not establish value.
What hurts an electrical business’s valuation?
Owner dependence, reliance on one or two general contractors, weak financial records, high safety costs, or limited bonding can affect a buyer’s offer. How much each matters depends on the actual projects and the buyer’s plan.
This is the national picture. Your market is its own story: how many scaled electrical operators actually compete in your metro, which platforms are already buying there, where the data-center and electrification demand is concentrated, and where your business stands in that field. That market-specific read is exactly what an Echelon Intel Report delivers, built from the same data behind this analysis.
The Great Trades Roll-Up: why Wall Street buys some trades and walks past others
The one number that decides what your trades business is worth
What is your roofing business worth: the trade furthest along in the same consolidation
Methodology and sources. Establishment counts and the share of larger shops come from U.S. Census County Business Patterns 2023. Private-equity share, deal counts, and valuation multiples draw on PitchBook, Cascade Partners, GF Data, M&A trade press, and advisory data. These are reported estimates, not audited figures. Transaction values come from public announcements. Echelon pulled names and reviews from Google business listings in the 20 largest US metros, within 40 km of each metro center. Its count of operators with more than 100 reviews is exact. The category includes any firm that performs electrical work. The most-reviewed listing is often a multi-trade home-services brand, not a pure electrical contractor. Echelon takes no position on whether any owner should buy, sell, or hold.