Fisk Electric Wins $24M Prefab Contract for Houston Data Center

Fisk Electric, a subsidiary of Tutor Perini, has won an electrical services contract worth about $24 million to prefabricate and assemble modular containment systems for a new data center in Houston. The units will be built at Fisk's new 75,000-square-foot prefabrication facility in the city, with work starting in the fourth quarter of 2026 Tutor Perini.

What Happened

Tutor Perini announced the award on October 6. The customer is a confidential data center client, and the project is a new ground-up facility in Houston, Texas Tutor Perini.

The scope and schedule, as described by the company:

• Scope: prefabrication and assembly of modular containment systems and related electrical infrastructure, including liquid-cooled components and piping Tutor Perini.
• Where it gets built: Fisk's new 75,000-square-foot prefabrication and manufacturing facility in Houston Tutor Perini.
• Start: electrical construction is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026 Tutor Perini.
• Finish: substantial completion is expected in the first quarter of 2027 Tutor Perini.
• Backlog: the contract value will be included in Tutor Perini's third-quarter 2026 backlog Tutor Perini.

The company tied the award directly to labor. It said a nationwide shortage of electricians is driving high demand for prefabrication, and that the new plant positions Fisk to serve as prime electrical contractor for data center owners, developers and general contractors Tutor Perini. Tutor Perini also says offsite manufacturing helps keep schedules on track Construction Dive.

Why It Stands Out

At $24 million, this is a small contract for a company of Tutor Perini's size. The Los Angeles-based contractor is known for large civil work, including the Gateway tunnel program in New York and New Jersey and California's high-speed rail project Construction Dive. Its backlog stood at $19.8 billion at the end of the first quarter Construction Dive.

What matters is the direction. On its first-quarter earnings call, chief executive Gary Smalley said the company was doing some data center work on the specialty side and was exploring ways to expand it. He also said the company did not want to give up its core market, and it described its approach to data centers as cautious Construction Dive. A dedicated prefabrication plant in Houston and a contract to fill it are concrete steps along that path.

Tutor Perini is not alone among civil-focused contractors. Granite Construction has also reported growing data center exposure, in its case through site preparation, access roads and parking lots Construction Dive.

Where Things Stand

The timeline is short. With construction beginning this quarter and substantial completion expected in the first quarter of 2027, the assembly work is compressed into a few months Tutor Perini. That is the case for building in a plant. Containment systems, electrical assemblies and liquid-cooling piping can be fabricated under controlled conditions while the site is still being prepared, then shipped and set in place.

The inclusion of liquid-cooled components and piping is worth noting. It puts mechanical-type work inside an electrical contractor's prefabricated scope, which reflects how newer data center designs blur the line between the electrical and mechanical trades.

Implications for Owners, Developers, Contractors and Subs

• Prefabrication is now a labor strategy. When there are not enough electricians to staff the field, moving hours into a shop lets a smaller, steadier crew produce more. Electrical contractors without shop capacity will find it harder to compete for mission critical work.
• Owners are buying schedule. A first-quarter 2027 finish on a ground-up data center package shows how much value owners place on speed. Modular assemblies shorten on-site duration and reduce trade stacking.
• Scope lines are shifting. Liquid cooling piping delivered inside an electrical package raises questions about jurisdiction, licensing, testing and warranty. General contractors should define those responsibilities clearly at buyout.
• Design has to freeze earlier. Shop-built modules need coordinated drawings, approved submittals and released equipment well ahead of field installation. Late changes cost more once fabrication starts.
• The model travels. The same approach applies to industrial, healthcare and manufacturing projects where electrical labor is tight, including in upstate New York and Florida.

What to Watch

• Tutor Perini's third-quarter results, where this award will appear in backlog, and any comment on further data center pursuits.
• Additional contracts routed through the Houston prefabrication plant.
• Whether other large electrical contractors announce similar shop investments near major data center markets.

Bottom Line

A $24 million electrical contract will not move Tutor Perini's backlog much, but it shows where specialty contractors are heading. Fisk Electric built a 75,000-square-foot plant to answer the electrician shortage with prefabrication, and a Houston data center is among its first customers.

Image credit: Kirill Sh on Unsplash. Free-license photo, used because the source images are a wire agency photo and a company logo. Unsplash.

Sources

• Tutor Perini, Fisk Electric Awarded $24 Million Data Center Electrical Project, Expanding Prefabrication Capabilities in Houston: https://investors.tutorperini.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2026/Fisk-Electric-Awarded-24-Million-Data-Center-Electrical-Project-Expanding-Prefabrication-Capabilities-in-Houston/default.aspx
• Construction Dive, Fisk Electric wins $24M modular contract for Houston data center: https://www.constructiondive.com/news/fisk-electric-tutor-perini-data-center-modular/832658/
• Construction Dive, Tutor Perini first-quarter 2026 earnings and data center coverage: https://www.constructiondive.com/news/tutor-perini-Q1-2026-earnings-data-centers/819716/