Native Sun and OATI partner to advance tribal energy sovereignty with smart EV charging and microgrid technologies

Native Sun Community Power Development, Inc. will deploy OATI's EVolution™ smart EV charging solution to help reach their goals of clean energy adoption and achieving energy sovereignty.

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Native Sun Community Power Development, Inc. ("Native Sun") and Open Access Technology International, Inc. (OATI) today announced a strategic partnership to accelerate energy sovereignty across Upper Midwest tribal nations through the deployment of smart electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and related clean energy technologies.

The initiative supports electrification and clean energy adoption in tribal communities, while laying the foundation for future opportunities including microgrids, distributed energy resources, and energy market integration.

Native Sun, a Minnesota-based nonprofit, has entered the final phase of deployment for its pioneering Electric Nation program. Building on agreements Native Sun has made with tribal nations across the Upper Midwest, OATI, through its subsidiary EVolution™, will provide the EV charging infrastructure, smart charging software platform, and customer support necessary for Tribal communities to have reliable charging options for their electric vehicles. Native Sun and OATI are coordinating the installation of the EV charging infrastructure for these tribal nations. Once installed, each Tribe will own their station outright, along with extended warranty service for long-term ownership and benefit.

"We at Native Sun are fighting a human health crisis on tribal lands, and we believe renewable energy and electrification can help cure this problem," said Robert Blake, executive director of Native Sun. "Technology and Native determination is what enables us to do this, and to empower our communities to be leaders in the clean transportation and energy space— to be able to partner with OATI on this important project, and gain so much more than a solutions provider, has been critical to our success and impact."

EV charging is an ideal first step in any tribal nation's electrification journey, and the EVolution Smart EV Charge Station Solution ensures a seamless experience that includes:

• Smart EV charging stations in multiple form factors and kW/MW power capacity
• A secure, cloud-hosted Smart Charge Station Network Management System (NMS)
• A robust EV driver mobile app, EVolution
• Full professional services for rollout and ongoing operations
• 24/7 support for reliability and customer service

With the EVolution NMS hosted in the OATI Cloud, designed specifically for mission-critical energy applications, tribal nations gain access to industry-grade security and reliability that also support data sovereignty.

"Tribal nations continue to drive the energy transition by investing in the electrification, reliability, and resilience tools critical to supporting their communities and expanding economic opportunities," said Sasan Mokhtari, President & CEO of OATI. "OATI is honored to partner with Native Sun to bring these valuable solutions to tribes in support of their energy sovereignty goals, and in providing clean technology leadership in rural and remote communities"

The program's impact extends far beyond deploying chargers. OATI can provide tribes with further consultation, design, and planning services for development of microgrid projects, which offer community resilience and additional revenue streams, like energy market integration and the potential for commercial development from manufacturing and data center facilities. These technologies will help buffer the unreliable electrical service that can occur in these communities and provide options to mitigate the cost of "demand charges" that can spike the utility bills tied to EV chargers and other electrical demands.

About Native Sun Community Power Development, Inc.
Native Sun's mission is to advance energy sovereignty, climate resilience, and economic justice for Tribal and rural communities. It is accomplishing this through the deployment of electric vehicle infrastructure, renewable energy, agrivoltaics, and related workforce development on Tribal lands throughout a five-state region in the Upper Midwest, with the goal of eventually serving and connecting Tribal Nations across North America. Native Sun is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

About Open Access Technology International (OATI)
OATI is the world's leading innovator of solutions for meeting the dynamic needs of the energy industry and the power grid, empowering utilities, market operators, and communities to thrive in an increasingly challenging landscape. Grounded by research, reliability, security, and value. OATI works in tandem with its customers to provide the highest quality and most trusted solutions for Smart Grid, Microgrids, Electric Vehicle Charging, and Energy Trading and Risk Management. OATI is headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota, with offices in California, Florida, Punjab, and Telangana. For more information, please contact [email protected].

For more information contact:
John Engel, Senior Director – Digital Strategy and Strategic Marketing
[email protected] 
Open Access Technology International, Inc. 
763.201.2000 

SOURCE Open Access Technology International, Inc. (OATI)