The Daily Dig
Atwell has acquired NEI Electric Power Engineering, Inc., the companies announced July 1, 2026. The deal combines Atwell's land development, permitting, and surveying services with NEI's transmission, substation, and power systems engineering work. Together, the firms say the combined team can support a project across its full lifecycle, from site selection and routing through engineering, construction support, and operations. Financial terms were not disclosed.
NEI was founded in 1982 and is based in Lakewood, Colorado. The firm employs more than 380 technical professionals across 38 states, serving utilities, renewable developers, industrials, hyperscalers, EPC contractors, and large load infrastructure clients.
Atwell President and CEO Matthew C. Bissett tied the deal to a widening gap between power demand and available infrastructure, driven by data center growth and electrification. He said the goal is to move a project from raw land to an energized grid as one integrated team, compressing timelines the industry has long treated as fixed.
Atwell and NEI had already partnered on projects for more than a decade before the acquisition. NEI President and CEO Clifton Oertli said the move gives NEI's teams access to a broader national network while keeping clients working with the same people they already know.
Snapshot:
Transaction: Acquisition of NEI Electric Power Engineering, Inc. by Atwell, LLC
Announced: July 1, 2026
Deal terms: Not disclosed
NEI headquarters: Lakewood, Colorado
NEI founded: 1982
NEI technical staff: 380+ professionals across 38 states
NEI specialties: Transmission engineering, substation design, power systems engineering, grid integration
NEI client types: Utilities, renewable developers, industrials, hyperscalers, EPC contractors, large load infrastructure clients
Combined platform focus: Data centers, grid modernization, transmission expansion, renewable interconnection, electrification, energy transition
Prior relationship: Atwell and NEI had partnered on projects for more than a decade
Atwell workforce (combined company): 2,500+ professionals
TheJobWalk Thoughts
This deal matters more for what it says about project delivery than for the transaction itself. Atwell built this acquisition specifically to close the gap between land development and power engineering, two functions owners typically manage as separate contracts with separate risk. Folding both into one team removes a coordination burden that owners on data center and large load projects have been absorbing themselves. That is the real value Atwell is selling here, not just added headcount or a bigger geographic footprint.
The bigger implication is for how EPCs and specialty engineering firms compete going forward. As integrated platforms like this one take on more full lifecycle work, bidders who only cover one phase, permitting or substation design but not both, will increasingly compete for a smaller slice of these projects. Firms strong in protection and controls, interconnection studies, or substation work should position as specialized partners to platforms like Atwell-NEI, where their expertise plugs into a larger delivery team instead of standing alone against it.
