Underground Utility Damage Costs $83.2B Annually

Damage to underground utility lines costs the U.S. economy an estimated $83.2 billion annually, or more than $227 million per day, according to a new report from the Common Ground Alliance (CGA).

The estimate, detailed in CGA’s Between the Lines: The True Cost of Damages to America’s Buried Utilities, is nearly three times the $30 billion benchmark established in 2019. The report accounts for the economic and other consequences that follow damage to underground power, gas, oil, communications, water, and other utility infrastructure.

CGA’s analysis modeled 668,999 damage incidents reported in 2025 and examined impacts across direct repair, operational response, business and economic disruption, human impact, and community and environmental impact.

“This is a wake-up call for everyone who builds, operates, protects, or depends on America’s critical infrastructure,” said CGA President and CEO Sarah K. Magruder Lyle. “This first of its kind analysis puts a comprehensive number on the problem. It illustrates the tremendous impact these damages have on communities across the country. An $83.2 billion annual impact makes clear that underground utility damage is not just an industry problem. It’s an economic problem, a public safety problem, a human impact problem, and an infrastructure problem that threatens businesses, workers, and taxpayers.”

The report found that direct repairs account for $4.9 billion, or 5.9%, of the total annual impact. The remaining costs stem from consequences including business interruptions, construction delays, emergency response, road closures, injuries, property damage, and community disruption.

Communities and the environment account for the largest share at $32.6 billion, or 39.2%. Business and economic disruption accounts for $31.6 billion, or 38%. Operational response represents $7.8 billion, or 9.4%, while human impacts account for $6.2 billion, or 7.5%.

Together, community, environmental and business consequences account for $64.2 billion, or more than three-quarters of the total estimated impact.

Moderate incidents, which account for approximately one-fifth of modeled damages, generate an estimated $64.5 billion in total economic impact. Damage in urban areas accounts for $77.9 billion.

The report comes as excavation activity increases to support broadband deployment, data center construction, energy and water upgrades, housing development, and other infrastructure projects.

“America is investing historic sums in new infrastructure, yet damage to underground infrastructure is creating economic harm on a staggering scale,” Magruder Lyle said. “Every facility owner, excavator, locator, 811 center, developer, homeowner, policymaker and regulator has a stake in reversing this trend. The cost of inaction and accepting the status quo is tremendous, and it affects every American.”

CGA estimates that if annual damage costs remain at current levels, the cumulative economic impact would reach approximately $416 billion over five years. That would represent nearly one-third of the $1.4 trillion in electric grid modernization investment anticipated from 2026 through 2030.

The report uses 2025 data from CGA’s Damage Information Reporting Tool, modeled national damage volumes, confidential interviews with CGA members and industry executives, publicly reported incidents, and government data. Costs were modeled by utility type, incident severity, and urbanicity before being aggregated across the five impact dimensions.