The process certification, issued under the National Electrical Manufacturers Association's Make it American program, audits manufacturing methods and supply chain documentation for the low and medium voltage equipment used in federally funded grid, data center, and industrial…
Schneider Electric has crossed a federal-procurement threshold that competitors in heavy electrical equipment have not: the company says more than 20 of its U.S. supply chain facilities now hold Make it American process certification from the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), making it the first major maker of switchgear, circuit breakers, variable speed drives, and motor control centers to clear the bar at that scale.
The certification matters because federally funded grid, transit, broadband, and water projects typically must satisfy Build America, Buy America (BABA) domestic-content rules. Being listed on NEMA's Make it American registry — the program created under NEMA standard 70901-2024 — gives a manufacturer the documentation federal-aid sponsors need to count components toward those thresholds, according to the joint announcement by Schneider Electric and NEMA.
The first facility to clear independent audit was the company's Fairfield, Ohio site, in May 2025. The remaining 19-plus sites span California, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, according to NEMA's public Make it American BABA Registry.
The release frames the milestone alongside Schneider's planned $700 million U.S. manufacturing investment, language positioning the certification as a procurement tool rather than a marketing badge. Process certification under standard 70901-2024 audits manufacturing methods and supply-chain documentation. It does not certify that a finished product is 100% U.S.-made. A switchgear assembly that clears the audit can be counted toward BABA thresholds on a project, but sponsors still verify the actual content mix — a distinction the announcement does not spell out.
NEMA President and CEO Debra Phillips called Schneider "the first company to earn Make It American certification across 20+ U.S. facilities" in the joint release. The NEMA Make it American BABA Registry, which lists certified facilities in real time, shows Schneider with 23 certified entries — more than any other single manufacturer. By comparison, ABB has 10 certified entries, Siemens Industry has four, and Eaton has one, according to the same registry. GE Vernova does not appear on the current registry.
That distinction — being first at scale — is the part competitors and federal-project sponsors will press on. With data-center power demand and industrial electrification driving an unusually large pipeline of federally aided electrical buildout, the first supplier to hold the certification at scale gains a credible bidding edge on projects that gate on BABA documentation, and the laggards face a choice: match the certification footprint, or cede the federal-aid pipeline.
Process certification under NEMA standard 70901-2024 does not carry a product-level BABA license for Schneider's facilities — meaning the certified facilities are verified for their manufacturing process and supply-chain controls, but individual products from those facilities do not yet carry NEMA's product-specification certifications (LVDE, VFD, EM, or other categories) under the BABA Product Specification program, according to the registry. Sponsors still verify the actual content mix of any finished product used in a federally funded project.