The U.S. infrastructure is at a crossroads. Aging systems, growing demand, and a wave of federal investment are reshaping how utilities think about everything from the power grid to stormwater systems.

Walk into any electric utility in America, and you’ll likely find a system built for a different era. Much of the transmission and distribution infrastructure was installed decades ago and it’s overdue for replacement. At the same time, demands on the grid have exploded with the addition of more homes, more businesses, and more data centers.  The increase of EVs and power-hungry AI technology has further compounded the need for more energy.  Suddenly, the energy grid isn’t just outdated. It’s under pressure.

And it’s not just electricity. Our stormwater and sanitation systems are also feeling the strain. Built for smaller populations and gentler weather, many of these systems, some of which date back to the mid-20th century, are now way past their design life. The growing risk of floods and heightened regulatory requirements for wastewater are making modernization even more difficult.

Even with billions in federal infrastructure funding on the table, the gap between what’s needed and what’s funded remains significant. Utility service providers are operating in a high-pressure environment, juggling rising materials costs, unpredictable regulations, and tariffs. Aging labor pools and workforce shortages have further driven the need to strategically outsource non-core processes.  This reality is forcing change. It’s why utilities are rethinking how they operate. Many are asking a fundamental question: Where do we add the most value? Increasingly, the answer means focusing on core energy delivery and outsourcing the rest.  This is why we believe infrastructure services businesses are only becoming more essential, especially those that can bring agility, scale, and reliability to solving these complex, recurring challenges. 

That’s where companies like Agile Utility Partners come in.  Post Capital was the first institutional investor in Agile, a key partner to electric and gas utilities in helping them simplify and scale operations.  Some of the company’s offerings include inventory and spend management services, yard management, and end-to-end procurement and material management services for utilities and EPC contractors.  Agile recently expanded its solutions into technical field services, including utility construction oversight, asset inspection, underground services, mapping and locating.   As part of the expansion, Agile acquired Ground Hawk, an Atlanta-based provider of subsurface utility inspection, locating and mapping solutions. 

Why This Sector Matters to Us

Our excitement about the infrastructure services industry is growing for several reasons:

• Increased demand for upgrading critical infrastructure is backed by federal infrastructure spending 
• The recurring nature of routine, preventative maintenance work
• The steep cost of system failures versus the relatively low cost of keeping infrastructure healthy
• The increasing trend of strategic outsourcing
• The fragmentation of the market, which offers potential for consolidation and scale