In a white paper, construction ERP software provider CMiC, Toronto, identified its top 2026 trends for electrical contractors, and there were a few surprises if you were willing to dig a little deeper.

For example, the white paper pointed to the now-present electrification trend that “is widening the scope for electrical contractors and creating markets that were almost invisible a decade ago.” It noted three areas of interest in this realm: buildings, transportation and distributed energy.

No surprise there for most electrical contractors. But consider what’s beyond the scope of the white paper from other sources.

Building electrification

According to Environ Energy, buildings are interacting with the electrical grid in new and different ways, such as through the advent of electric HVAC systems, electric vehicle chargers and heat pumps. Contractors with expertise in these areas can help mitigate the possibility of ill-planned electrification, which can increase cost, but also operational risk.

What’s more, organizations are placing more emphasis on controls, automation and analytics for a building’s existing systems.

“Controls strategies are increasingly paired with physical upgrades to maximize return and avoid performance drift over time,” Environ Energy’s analysis stated.

Transportation electrification

Public charging networks—including at workplaces—are expanding fast, according to a January 2026 blog post from Blink Charging, Bowie, Md. This of course ties in with the aforementioned building electrification trends noted by Environ Energy.

But it’s not just workplaces that are affected by EV charging. Blink Charging said that vehicle-to-home (V2H) bidirectional charging is a trend to monitor in 2026. V2H, and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging, can be used to power homes and help take a load off an often-overtaxed electrical grid.

“At least eight states are currently developing programs to export energy from electric vehicles and electric buses,” according to the blog post. That amount should increase this year. 

Distributed energy resources

The Business Council for Sustainable Energy said that last year, U.S. electricity demand jumped substantially for the first time in decades, mostly driven by the growth of data centers for services like artificial intelligence. 

Again, this is no surprise. But what will surely be of interest to electrical contractors is where electricity is coming from—it’s not just coal- or natural-gas-fired power plants.

“Renewables accounted for 61% of new power-generating capacity, with utility-scale solar leading with 27 GW of alternating energy current capacity commissioned,” the Council’s Sustainable Energy in America 2026 Factbook notes.

Where is this energy coming from? It includes onshore wind power installations, which grew 30% year-over-year. New biomass, geothermal and small hydropower also played a role, while utility-scale energy storage added 15 GW of power last year.

 The bottom line, according to CMiC, is that an electrical contractor keen on these trends will be able to widen their scope of work, which means more added to the bottom line.

“Contractors who build expertise in controls, energy management, storage integration and software-enabled services gain access to long term contracts that grow in value over time,” CMiC stated.