Schneider Electric Advances Pathways to Close U.S. Power Gap at BNEF NY 2026
- Schneider Electric executives to address how electrification, grid modernization, and digital intelligence can accelerate U.S. competitiveness
- New research highlights the smart orchestration of distributed energy resources as cost-effective alternatives to traditional grid expansion
NEW YORK, April 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Schneider Electric, a global energy technology leader, today began its participation at the 2026 BloombergNEF (BNEF) Summit (April 21–22) in New York, outlining the importance of addressing both an energy demand and energy intelligence challenge to effectively help close a growing global power gap and accelerate U.S. competitiveness.
Artificial Intelligence (AI), data centers, electrification, and digitalization are driving a historic acceleration in global electricity demand. Schneider Electric's Research Institute finds that AI could account for up to 50% of U.S. electricity demand growth between 2025 and 2030, with high‑end scenarios projecting total additional U.S. electricity demand reaching 157 GW by 2029.
"A new energy landscape—driven by AI, data centers, and electrification—is creating unprecedented needs which can be solved by advanced energy technologies," said Pankaj Sharma, Executive Vice President, Software and Services at Schneider Electric. "This calls for a fundamental shift towards energy intelligent ecosystems that can dynamically sense, predict and optimize in real time to unlock new capacity from existing infrastructure and accelerate time to power."
New Research Anchoring the Conversation
Building on the findings of its 2025 Powering Sustainable AI in the United States report, Schneider Electric is bringing new insights to policymakers, industry leaders, and customers during the Summit with a new report, Grid Relief from Smart Buildings Equipped with Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) which demonstrates how smart buildings equipped with DERs can provide grid relief equivalent to adding new generation capacity faster and at lower cost than traditional grid expansion, while remaining profitable for investors.
Energy Tech Priorities for Closing the Time to Power Gap
Schneider Electric's BNEF 2026 programming is guided by three strategic priorities that reflect its unique expertise and breadth as an energy technology partner:
Accelerating grid readiness
Digitalization, software‑defined architectures, and standardized design approaches reduce complexity and accelerate time to power—from utility interconnection to commissioning. By embedding intelligence at the grid edge, Schneider Electric helps utilities and developers bring capacity online faster and release additional capacity from existing infrastructure—improving flexibility, reliability an overall system performance.
Electrification for resilience and returns
Electrification improves efficiency, stabilizes energy costs, and enhances resilience—but its full value is unlocked when paired with energy intelligence, i.e. real‑time data and analytics. Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure platform and SE Advisory Services enable organizations to design, deploy, and continuously optimize electrification strategies that deliver measurable financial returns in years, not decades.
Operational intelligence that cuts costs and risk
Most organizations fail to act on nearly three‑quarters of their enterprise data. Schneider Electric's AVEVA software AI‑powered analytics transform that unused data into actionable energy and industrial intelligence—reducing unplanned downtime, self-optimizing energy use, and enabling the shift toward autonomous operations.
Schneider Electric delegation and programming
Schneider Electric delegation at the Summit will be led by senior executives from across the company's Global and North American businesses:
- Pankaj Sharma, Executive Vice President, Software and Services
- Aparna Prabhakar, Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer, Energy Management
- Vincent Petit, Senior Vice President, Schneider Electric Research Institute
- Sue Quense, Chief Commercial Officer, AVEVA
- Bill Brewer, Head of Sustainability Business, Americas
The company's presence will span mainstage speaking engagements, executive-hosted workshops and bilateral meetings with Fortune 500 executives and policymakers. Of note:
- Mainstage panel — "Navigating Energy Strategy in a Fragmented World" (April 21, 9:05 a.m.): Pankaj Sharma will join global energy leaders to discuss how companies are adapting strategy amid shifting trade policies, evolving regulations, and rising demand.
- Executive-hosted workshop — "AI Inference: The Next Great Wave of Compute and Power Demand" (April 21, 12:40 p.m.): Schneider Electric and AlphaStruxure will convene data center leaders and energy experts to examine the utility interconnection bottleneck, time to power constraints, and accelerating design-to-commissioning timelines.
About Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric is a global energy technology leader, driving efficiency and sustainability by electrifying, automating, and digitalizing industries, businesses, and homes. Its technologies enable buildings, data centers, factories, infrastructure, and grids to operate as open, interconnected ecosystems, enhancing performance, resilience, and sustainability. The portfolio includes intelligent devices, software-defined architectures, AI-powered systems, digital services, and expert advisory.
With 160,000 employees and one million partners in over 100 countries, Schneider Electric is consistently ranked among the world's most sustainable companies.
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SOURCE Schneider Electric
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