Burns Engineering buys Midwest energy-plant designer PRVN Consultants

Burns Engineering announced on 28 October that it has acquired PRVN Consultants, a firm founded in 2011 that designs central energy plants, utility distribution systems and industrial process facilities. Terms were not disclosed.

What PRVN does

PRVN works in district energy, power generation and combined heat and power. Its engineers cover mechanical, electrical, controls and structural design, and the firm also handles planning, construction support and commissioning. It lists experience in thermal energy storage, geothermal, renewable fuels, process water treatment and automation. PRVN has offices in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

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Why Burns wants it

Burns has been in business since 1960 and describes itself as a specialist engineering provider for transportation and critical infrastructure. It was ranked an ENR Top 500 Design Firm in 2026. The deal adds to its Power & Utilities practice and gives it a Midwest base. President and CEO Matthew Burns called the purchase "a strategic milestone for Burns and our Power & Utilities practice". PRVN President Jim Nonnenmann said the two firms share a commitment to technical excellence and long-term client relationships.

The EFCG weekly briefing, which tracks engineering-firm M&A, notes that Burns is backed by private equity firm OceanSound Partners. The same briefing logged Tennessee architecture and engineering firm Pickering buying Hodge Engineering (announced 23 October), which offers mechanical, structural and electrical design.

The bigger picture

Most of the attention in MEP goes to contractors, but the design side is consolidating too. Firms with in-house central plant, power and controls capability are scarce, and they are exactly the skills that data centres, hospitals, campuses and manufacturing plants need as power demand climbs. The same EFCG briefing cites MSI Economics figures showing only about 5 GW of the 12 to 16 GW of data centre power capacity projected for 2026 was under construction. Buying a team like PRVN is often quicker than trying to build one, especially when most of the people who can design a combined heat and power plant are already employed.

For engineers at small specialist firms, the deal is a reminder that private-equity-backed platforms are actively looking for niche capability rather than headcount alone. For clients, it may mean fewer, larger firms on shortlists for central plant and energy work.

What it means for hiring

We see engineers who combine mechanical or electrical design with controls and commissioning experience in energy plants as some of the hardest MEP design profiles to find right now.
After an acquisition, integration usually creates demand for practice leaders and project managers who can run teams across several offices, and we would expect Burns to need that kind of leadership in the Midwest.
In our view, owners of small MEP design firms with power and utilities expertise should expect more approaches from PE-backed buyers in 2027.

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