- Octopus Energy Group to acquire majority stake in Uplight, partnering with Schneider Electric to scale next-generation grid flexibility
- The partnership brings together consumer engagement, demand-side flexibility, and advanced grid management technology
- Helps US utilities manage surging electricity demand from AI-driven data centers and electrification while strengthening energy security
Octopus Energy Group will cement its expansion in the U.S. by acquiring a majority stake in Uplight, a leading provider of customer engagement and flexibility management solutions that rapidly transform customer participation into dependable grid capacity. The deal is made in partnership with Schneider Electric, a global energy technology leader trusted by utilities worldwide, which will remain as a significant minority partner. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to complete later this year.
Uplight serves over 85 utilities across North America, including eight of the ten largest in the U.S., and manages over 8.5 gigawatts of flexible load, delivering demand response, distributed energy resource management and customer engagement solutions to millions of customers. Uplight will continue to operate as an independent platform focused on customer-centric flexibility management.
The investment gives utilities the tools to modernize their grid operations and strengthen resilience as AI-driven data centers, electrification and distributed energy sharply increase electricity demand across North America. By connecting customer participation more directly to grid operations, utilities can unlock flexible capacity faster and more affordably than traditional infrastructure buildouts.
Meeting this surge in demand while maintaining reliability, affordability and energy security is one of the defining energy challenges of the decade. Utilities are increasingly seeking solutions that engage customers directly in managing energy use. Uplight enables households and businesses to actively participate in flexibility programs, turning distributed energy resources into reliable capacity that utilities can deploy when and where the grid needs it.
Octopus Energy Group is a global leader in managing flexible energy systems, operating the world’s largest virtual power plant, with more than 350,000 electric vehicles enrolled worldwide and enabling millions of customers to lower their energy bills through demand-side flexibility tariffs. The investment in Uplight means Octopus Energy will bring this expertise into the U.S. market at scale by working directly with utilities to unlock flexible capacity and support more resilient power systems.
The partnership brings together:
- Octopus Energy’s consumer innovation and global flexibility expertise
- Uplight’s established U.S. utility relationships and proprietary engagement and flexibility technology
- Schneider Electric’s global leadership in advanced distribution management systems (ADMS) and its OneDERMS platform, helping connect demand-side flexibility with grid operations and manage increasingly dynamic power systems
Kraken, the operating system for utilities originally developed by Octopus Energy Group and now operating as an independent global technology business, will begin exploring collaboration with Uplight, encompassing customer operations capabilities, and flexibility orchestration to combine the companies’ respective best in class expertise.
Nick Chaset, CEO of Octopus Energy US, said:
“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.
Together, we can help accelerate the shift to a smarter, more resilient and more affordable energy system.”
Frédéric Godemel, Executive Vice President, Energy Management at Schneider Electric, said:
“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.”
Luis D’Acosta, Chief Executive Officer, Uplight, said:
“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.
