Summary

• WSP continues rapid expansion in US

• Power and energy will now account for 34% of its US net revenue for all services

• More than $1.2bn of E&S revenue added to the company

• Acquisition also brings environmental permitting, compliance, remediation and water capabilities

WSP has entered into an agreement to acquire TRC Companies, a US power and energy consulting company with around 8,000 staff, for $3.3bn.

The company says combined with TRC, it will become the largest engineering and design firm in the US by revenue.

In terms of environmental and sustainability consulting (E&S) revenue, according to Environment Analyst data, WSP is first in the world as of 2024 and third in the US as of 2023. TRC is seventh in the world and fifth in the US.

WSP’s 2024 US E&S revenue was around $2.5bn and TRC’s around $1.2bn.

We will be updating US rankings in our 2026 US market assessment, due in the coming months.

WSP made over $5bn in acquisitions across the globe from 2022-24. With the contemplated acquisition of TRC, combined with Lexica and Ricardo, it is committing over $5bn in 2025 alone, the company said in an investor presentation.

In the period of 2019-25 (before acquisition of TRC), WSP acquired around $2.9bn of E&S revenue globally, according to Environment Analyst data.

Power and energy

The acquisition means 34% of WSP’s US net revenues will now be derived from the power and energy sector.  

The company says it will have combined net revenues of $2.5bn from the sector and a workforce of approximately 9,000 professionals in the US. Globally, its power and energy workforce will total approximately 12,000.  

Alexandre L’Heureux, president and CEO of WSP, in the investor presentation said: “With this transaction, WSP will become the undisputed leader in the US power and energy market.”   

TRC will add new energy efficiency services to WSP, as well as building on established service lines, such as grid solutions.

Based on data submitted to Environment Analyst, the two companies generated over $1bn in E&S consulting revenues from climate change and energy services in the US in 2024.

Beyond power and energy

On top of power and energy services, TRC will add water, infrastructure and environmental services to WSP. 

“TRC’s environmental practice is immediately synergistic with WSP,” said L’Heureux.

By combining WSP and TRC’s environmental permitting, compliance, remediation and water capabilities, WSP aims to provide clients with end-to-end solutions.

WSP has ranked number one worldwide for environmental and sustainability (E&S) consulting revenue since 2023, according to Environment Analyst’s global market assessments.

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Expanding and diversifying in the US

Since 2020, in the US WSP has grown from 10,000 employees and $2.4bn in net revenue to 27,000 employees and $7.2 bn in 2025 (on a pro forma basis).

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L’Heureux said: “We will soon be fulfilling our ambition to lead in each of our core sectors.”

The investor presentation outlined how acquisitions have contributed to the company leading in these sectors. It showed: 

• the acquisition of Parsons and Brinckerhoff in 2014 boosting WSP’s position in transport and infrastructure; 

• the acquisition of Golder (2020) and Wood’s E&I (2022) contributing to its earth and environment leading position; and

• now the acquistion of POWER engineers (2024) and TRC (2025) increasing the position of its power and energy sector.

According to Environment Analyst data, in 2024, WSP brought in 9% of its total US E&S revenue from climate change and energy services. This was considerably lower than its shares from contaminated site assessment/remediation, impact assessment, and environmental, health and safety (EHS) services, which were all between 20-30%.

With the addition of TRC’s 2024 US revenues, the climate change and energy share would have been over 25%.

Clients

Although WSP and TRC share clients, L’Heureux said that the services from the companies are highly complementary, which allows for deeper relationships across the power-delivery sector.

As their service offering will span the entire value chain, L’Heureux said WSP will be able to serve all top 20 US investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and cover every aspect of power generation, transmission, substation design and distribution. 

He added: “WSP will become the largest transmission and distribution engineering company in the US, expanding our scale and geographic reach, and significantly enhancing our testing and commissioning capabilities for utilities nationwide.”

Niche power expertise is in high demand across industries and sectors, said L’Heureux, and therefore there are significant cross-selling opportunities.

Environmental permitting and EHS

L’Heureux said, following the acquisition WSP “are positioned to create a leading force in environmental permitting and planning for power and energy projects, a critical early stage in the project lifecycle.”

He added that national power capital project activity expected to grow. Data centre energy demand as well as industrial reshoring are key factors in this expected increase of activity in the US.

WSP’s EHS service area currently accounts for 23.5% of its $2.5bn US E&S revenue, according to Environment Analyst data. TRC adds18% of its $1.2bn US E&S revenue.

L’Heureux said: “TRC’s environmental, health and safety practice brings substantial additional capabilities to one of our smaller practice areas. As one of TRC’s fastest-growing segments, it adds valuable new organic growth potential for our earth and environment sector.”

Water

Environment Analyst’s global market assessment (GMA) forecasts the water and waste management service area will have revenue of almost $23bn by 2029. In absolute terms, this service area is forecast to show the biggest growth of revenue, increasing by $6.4bn between 2024 and 2029. PFAS and water scarcity are key drivers of this.

Now added to WSP, TRC’s water service lines include: 

• water resources;

• stormwater compliance; 

• watershed planning; and 

• advanced water treatment, including PFAS.

TRC’s water infrastructure capabilities, including flood control, drought preparedness, and coastal restoration, will also add to WSP’s resilience advisory portfolio.  

Resilience advisory is a fast-growing area.

Environment Analyst’s GMA shows the climate change and energy service area, which includes resilience advisory, to have the second highest five-year CAGR (2024-29) of all service areas at 7.2%.

Remediation and transportation

“WSP and TRC are two of the nation’s leading site investigation and remediation firms, with unparalleled technical depth and breadth,” said L’Heureux.

Environment Analyst’s data shows WSP ranked first at $806m and TRC Companies ranked eighth at $113m for contaminated site assessment and remediation E&S revenue in the US for 2023.

L’Heureux added that TRC’s transportation business line is a natural addition to WSP’s business and highly complementary in terms of geographic footprint and clients.

According to Environment Analyst data in 2024, transport clients made up 3.8% of TRC’s $1.2bn US E&S revenue, and 3.0% of WSP’s $2.5bn.