SALT LAKE CITY — Every time an excavator hits a buried line in Utah, the repair is only the beginning of the bill. A new study from the Common Ground Alliance (CGA), a national damage-prevention group, estimates that underground utility damage costs Utah $93.1 million a year. That is more than $255,000 a day.
The study counts about 884 damages to buried power, water, internet, natural gas and other lines in Utah each year. For every dollar spent fixing the line itself, nearly $9 more is lost to outages, delays and other fallout, according to the Utah findings released Oct. 13.
The national picture
The Utah numbers come from a national study CGA released on Aug. 13, titled Between the Lines: The True Cost of Damage to America's Buried Utilities. It puts the nationwide cost at $83.2 billion a year, or more than $227 million a day. That is nearly triple the $30 billion estimate the industry had used since 2019.
CGA president and CEO Sarah K. Magruder Lyle called the results eye-opening: "For the first time, we're seeing the true economic impact of these damages."
Most of that cost has nothing to do with fixing pipe or cable:
Cost category | Annual cost (national) | Share |
|---|---|---|
Community and environmental impact | $32.6 billion | 39.2% |
Business and economic disruption | $31.6 billion | 38.0% |
Operational response | $7.8 billion | 9.4% |
Human impact (injuries, deaths) | $6.2 billion | 7.5% |
Direct repair | $4.9 billion | 5.9% |
Nationally, that works out to about $16 in losses for every $1 of repairs. Urban areas account for $77.9 billion of the total. CGA estimates that if damage stays at current levels, the five-year cost would reach about $416 billion.
The study modeled about 669,000 damage incidents in 2025. The figures are modeled estimates, not a direct count. CGA built them from its damage reporting data, interviews with members and industry executives, public incident reports and government data.
Why it keeps growing
The study ties the rising cost to a surge in digging. Broadband buildouts, data centers, energy and water upgrades and new housing are all putting more crews in the dirt near buried lines.
CGA's separate 2025 damage report, released in July, found that buried utility damages hit a record high last year. The leading cause was the same one the industry has fought for years: not calling 811 before digging. The top 10 root causes accounted for 86% of all damages. Telecommunications and cable lines took 51% of the hits, followed by natural gas at 36%, electric at 8% and water and sewer at 5%.
A small grant for new ideas
CGA is also putting money toward prevention. On Oct. 1, it opened applications for its new Damage Prevention Technology & Innovation Grant Program. The program will award up to $25,000 a year, split among one or more recipients, for one-year pilots of new technology or processes.
Proposals must fit one of three focus areas: mapping and recordkeeping, technology and process improvements, or compliance tracking and data gathering. A CGA stakeholder panel will judge them on need, readiness, expected impact and ability to scale. Winners must share their results and help with a public case study.
The program is narrow. Only CGA members in good standing with 501(c) nonprofit status can apply, which leaves out most contractors. Applications are due Nov. 30, 2026.
What contractors can do
- Call before every dig. In Utah, that means Blue Stakes of Utah 811, which CGA pointed to as the way to prevent damage.
- Price in the real risk. A line strike can set off delays, emergency response and business losses far beyond the repair cost.
- Watch telecom lines. Fiber and cable are now the most-hit utility type, and broadband work is driving much of the new digging.
- Pass the grant along. If your local 811 center or a nonprofit partner has a pilot idea, the Nov. 30 deadline is close.