Electrical Wholesaling's Picks for 10 Local Markets to Watch in 2026

Sept. 8, 2025

Key Highlights

Boise, Charlotte, Raleigh, and Loudoun County are expected to lead in electrical sales growth by 2026 due to major projects and population increases.
Data center construction remains a significant market driver, fueling demand for electrical infrastructure and related materials.
Copper and WTI oil prices are stable, supporting consistent market conditions for energy and construction sectors.
Weekly freight car traffic data from the American Association of Railroads signals a bullish outlook for economic activity and infrastructure development.
Large projects and population growth are key factors influencing the rapid expansion of these metropolitan areas.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Powered by large projects or population growthBoise, Idaho, Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina and Loudoun County should be among the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in electrical sales potential in 2026.

Data center construction will continue to be a key market driver.

Copper and WTI oil prices remain stable.

Weekly freight car traffic provided by the American Association of Railroads continues to be among the most bullish leading indicators.

KEY TAKEAWAYS Powered by large projects or population growthBoise, Idaho, Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina and Loudoun County should be among the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in electrical sales potential in 2026. Data center construction will continue to be a key market driver. Copper and WTI oil prices remain stable. Weekly freight car traffic provided by the American Association of Railroads continues to be among the most bullish leading indicators.

About the Author

Jim Lucy

Editor-in-Chief of Electrical Wholesaling and Electrical Marketing

Jim Lucy has been wandering through the electrical market for more than 40 years, most of the time as an editor for Electrical Wholesaling and Electrical Marketing newsletter, and as a contributing writer for EC&M magazine During that time he and the editorial team for the publications have won numerous national awards for their coverage of the electrical business. He showed an early interest in electricity, when as a youth he had an idea for a hot dog cooker. Unfortunately, the first crude prototype malfunctioned and the arc nearly blew him out of his parents' basement.

Before becoming an editor for Electrical Wholesaling and Electrical Marketing, he earned a BA degree in journalism and a MA in communications from Glassboro State College, Glassboro, NJ., which is formerly best known as the site of the 1967 summit meeting between President Lyndon Johnson and Russian Premier Aleksei Nikolayevich Kosygin, and now best known as the New Jersey state college that changed its name in 1992 to Rowan University because of a generous $100 million donation by N.J. zillionaire industrialist Henry Rowan. Jim is a Brooklyn-born Jersey Guy happily transplanted with his wife and three sons in the fertile plains of Kansas for the past 30 years.