Sprocket Power Teaming with Schneider Electric to Lead Microgrid Flex Expansion

May 20, 2025

Sprocket Power has led several higher-profile commercial microgrids lately, including distributed energy solutions at five automobile dealerships in New York. Schneider Electric is a long-time integrator of microgrids totaling more than 350 microgrids generating about 100 GW of capacity throughout the U.S.

Rod Walton, Microgrid Knowledge Managing Editor

682ccb48d281752fba899ded Ecostruxure Microgrid Flex Product Image

The versatility and uniqueness of microgrids has equipped them to fit nearly every mission-critical power resiliency challenge.

The sheer complexity of coordinating a diverse set of distributed energy technologies, however, takes a lot of time and design calculations. And with distributed energy possibly expanding to account for 40% of U.S. electricity generation within the next two decades, the collaborations around connection must accelerate or risk projects dying in long interconnection queues.

For those reasons, microgrid design, automation and management firm Schneider Electric unveiled its EcoStruxure Microgrid Flex solution to work on creating synergies with partners which, united as one, can reduce project timelines to meet critical customer needs.

New York-based developer Sprocket Power is becoming the inaugural partner of the Microgrid Flex Partner Program, which will bring companies into collaboration around microgrid projects for many types of facility customers seeking on-site power solutions. Both companies bring expertise that together are designed to enhance streamlining of the microgrid project process.

“Microgrids are being installed throughout the U.S. at hospitals, universities, businesses, schools, and airports, as the country’s grid experiences failures due to age and weather-related disruptions,” said Don Wingate, Vice President Sales – Strategic Customers and Solutions – New Energy Landscape at Schneider Electric, in a statement. “We recognized Sprocket Power as a trailblazer in the implementation of microgrid systems. Their expertise and collaborative approach have made them an invaluable partner in advancing this dynamic and rapidly growing sector of sustainable energy.”

Sprocket Power has led several higher-profile commercial microgrids lately, including distributed energy solutions at five automobile dealerships in New York. It has developed specific capabilities in on-site power development for EV charging infrastructure, while Schneider Electric is a long-time integrator of microgrids totaling more than 350 microgrids generating about 100 GW of capacity throughout the U.S.

The increasing frequency of extreme weather forcing grid outages, as well as concerns about utility resource adequacy for a variety of economic sectors such as data centers and manufacturing, is accelerating the adoption of microgrids through this decade.

“Microgrids are deeply valuable, but potential host sites often face barriers to accessing and maximizing that value,” Maria Fields, CEO and co-founder of Sprocket Power, said. “Schneider Electric brings critical resources, a well-earned reputation, and a smart approach to opening this market, and we are looking forward to partnering with the company to deliver on this promise.”

The standardization and simplification movement behind EcoStruxure Microgrid Flex helps combine and coordinator microgrid control, electrical distribution, software and battery storage components within systems.

Sprocket Power, already adept at working within the commercial customer markets, will identify candidates for the Microgrid Flex system and help develop projects from concept to execution and operation. Schneider itself has completed a fleet of microgrids across multiple sectors, from wineries to public transportation depots.

The 2-year-old Flex program expects to mature this year with additional collaborations across various partners within the microgrid ecosystem.

“Schneider Electric is expanding the Microgrid Flex partner network with a handful of select partners this year. It is our ambition to go to market with a focused group of highly qualified companies who are developing portfolios of microgrids,” added Samantha Childress, Director, Microgrid Partner Strategy & Channel Sales at Schneider Electric.

“Recruitment and selection of Microgrid Flex partners is dependent on an organization's experience determining and pitching the business case to end users, defining the appropriate use cases and site-level engineering, and the ability to install and maintain the microgrid solution for years to come,” Childress said.

The global microgrid market rose to between $32 billion and $35 billion last year, according to various reports, and could more than double by 2033. The expanded power needs of artificial intelligence, reshoring of U.S. manufacturing capacity and fleet electrification are drivers of this anticipated growth.

In addition, repairing and upgrading an outdated utility grid transmission and distributed system likely benefits from capital investment in modernization at the edge of the grid. The American Society of Civil Engineers has graded U.S. energy instructure at a D+ and lacking some addition $700 billion of capital investment needs.

The value proposition of microgrids not only resides in the power resiliency benefits of the distributed energy resources but also is aggregating that capacity into grid services such as demand response and virtual power plants. Over the years, Schneider Electric has made several acquisitions for technology start-ups offering VPP and grid services, such as Uplight.

About the Author

Rod Walton, Microgrid Knowledge Managing Editor | Managing Editor

For Microgrid Knowledge editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

I’ve spent the last 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. I was an energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World before moving to business-to-business media at PennWell Publishing, which later became Clarion Events, where I covered the electric power industry. I joined Endeavor Business Media in November 2021 to help launch EnergyTech, one of the company’s newest media brands. I joined Microgrid Knowledge in July 2023.

I earned my Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. My career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World, all in Oklahoma . I have been married to Laura for the past 33-plus years and we have four children and one adorable granddaughter. We want the energy transition to make their lives better in the future.

Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech are focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.