Octopus Energy Makes Strategic Investment to Modernize North American Energy Grids
Octopus Energy Group has announced a major strategic move by acquiring a majority stake in Uplight, a leading energy technology platform. This partnership, which includes collaboration with Schneider Electric, is designed to scale next-generation grid flexibility across North America, bringing together consumer engagement, demand-side flexibility, and advanced grid management technology.
Addressing Surging Electricity Demand
The investment comes at a critical time as electricity demand surges across North America, driven by AI-driven data centers and widespread electrification. Uplight serves over 85 utilities in the region, including eight of the ten largest in the United States, and manages more than 8.5 gigawatts of flexible load. This capacity is essential for delivering demand response, distributed energy resource management, and customer engagement solutions to millions of households and businesses.
Nick Chaset, CEO of Octopus Energy U.S., emphasized the importance of this partnership: "As energy demand surges in the U.S., utilities need the tools to deliver reliable and affordable power for their customers. This partnership brings together Octopus’s world-leading expertise in flexibility, Schneider Electric’s grid intelligence and Uplight’s deep relationships with leading U.S. utilities to turn customer participation into dependable grid capacity."
Enhancing Grid Resilience and Customer Participation
Uplight will continue to operate as an independent platform focused on customer-centric flexibility management. The platform enables households and businesses to actively participate in flexibility programs, transforming distributed energy resources into reliable capacity that utilities can deploy precisely when and where the grid needs it most.
Frédéric Godemel, Executive Vice President of Energy Management at Schneider Electric, highlighted the shared vision: "Our continued commitment to Uplight reflects a shared focus on connecting customer programs more directly to grid operations. Uplight’s platform will help transform distributed energy resources into reliable, market-ready capacity, and we will support their mission to make energy more flexible, clean and affordable."
Strategic Vision for a Smarter Energy Future
Luis D’Acosta, Chief Executive Officer of Uplight, outlined the long-term benefits: "Uplight has always been committed to unlocking grid capacity by empowering the energy consumer. With the strategic backing of Octopus Energy and Schneider Electric, Uplight is uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between customer participation and grid operations. Together, we are proving that distributed energy resources – when managed with precision and scale – can perform as the reliable, utility-scale capacity needed to ensure a resilient and affordable energy future."
This world-leading announcement positions Octopus Energy to significantly impact the energy sector by providing utilities with the tools to modernize grid operations, strengthen resilience, and manage the sharp increase in electricity demand. The partnership aims to accelerate the shift toward a smarter, more resilient, and more affordable energy system across North America.
