The 2025 National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Conference & Expo marked a pivotal moment for the electrical industry. Not only as a key educational event focused on innovation and safety in an ever-changing energy landscape, but also NFPA was the location for the National Electrical Code’s (NEC) Technical Meeting, ahead of the publication of NEC 2026 later this year.
With the 2026 NEC’s release near, this year’s Expo played a critical role in shaping the future of electrical safety and standards.
As always, Schneider Electric was proud to be part of the event, contributing to expert discussions, showcasing innovative solutions, and supporting the drive towards safer, smarter homes.
Fire safety innovation
This year’s NFPA conference & expo highlighted how artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and smart monitoring are improving fire safety, which is especially important in the face of growing battery use.
Lithium-ion batteries, which are becoming more frequently used in homes, pose a fire risk if not safely managed. Therefore, preventing and managing thermal events is more important than ever.
With this, much of the expo offered guidance and new technologies hinged on the safe use of batteries, the importance of emergency plans and procedures, and information on how to tackle live fires.
The biggest NFPA highlight, however, was that safety shouldn’t be reactive, but rather preventative, supported by innovations that are built into systems, monitoring, and adapting to risks in real-time.
The rise of home energy management systems and service upgrade avoidance
There is no doubt that homeowners are looking for more convenience, control, and savings. Therefore, Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) continue to gain traction.
Given this, at the NFPA 2025 Conference, there was strong discussion around how HEMS can support homeowners now and in the future, with service upgrade avoidance a key talking point.
Homeowners are enjoying the many benefits of HEMS. Such as, the support of load balancing from renewable energy sources, access to power when outages occur, smart-load monitoring and management, real-time alerts, and appliance integration. In addition, homeowners are beginning to benefit from HEMS support in service upgrade avoidance, as explored in depth at the conference.
With the future leaning towards making the grid and homes work smarter and safer, the discussion around service upgrade avoidance focused on the importance of assisting homeowners as their homes become more electrified.
With more people introducing electrical appliances into their homes, such as heat pumps and EV chargers, than ever before, there is a risk of exceeding and overloading the panel’s capacity.
This is where HEMs and Energy Management Systems (EMS) come into play. First introduced into the 2020 NEC, EMS requirements continue to evolve throughout each code cycle, with more refinements expected in 2026 NEC.
With this, guidance within the code continues to provide electricians with a clear pathway to support homeowners in avoiding costly, full-service upgrades, allowing appliances to be managed dynamically and safely.
This is achieved with the introduction of an EMS that can ensure effective set point management and usage monitoring, whilst making sure that capacity isn’t exceeded.
With the appetite for HEMS increasing, Schneider Electric showcased its Smart Power Manager, debuting later this year, and its Schneider Pulse solutions, which are designed to help homeowners and homebuilders unlock ultimate control and convenience and to avoid costly service upgrades.
Looking to NEC 2026: Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) protection
GFCI were a key talking point at this year’s conference, especially in relation to their role in residential HVAC systems and EV charging.
This focus follows years of work across the electrical industry to improve GFCI performance in equipment that uses power conversion, which is common in HVAC and EV applications that require inverters and variable speed motors.
Such efforts have led to the development of High-Frequency GFCI (HF GFCI) – designed to support high-frequency loads, prioritizing safety.
The NEC 2026 highlights the importance of this innovation. In collaboration with UL, the NEC introduces a new product standard for HF GFCI for the first time.
As electrification and efficiency continue to shape the new energy landscape, more appliances will adopt variable speed motors and inverters, extending beyond use cases in HVAC systems and EV charging.
It was clear from conversations at the conference that HF GFCI are a significant step in ensuring safety and seamless operation in demanding residential applications.
Schneider Electric celebrates
Not only did Schneider Electric contribute to successful educational sessions at this year’s NFPA conference, three of its employees were recognized at the event, highlighting their, and Schneider Electric’s commitment to safety and innovation.
Final thoughts
It is clear from the NFPA 2025 Conference that the industry is headed toward smarter and safer homes, with better regulations and tools available than ever before to support electricians in keeping homeowners happy and safe.
With NEC 2026 coming soon, it is important to embrace the new codes that protect safety, as well as the new innovations that support them. Integral to this is working with trusted solutions providers that ensure compliance every step of the way.
To learn more about Schneider Electric’s Residential and Small Business solutions, please visit our Residential and Small Business Products page.
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