2026 ACORE Finance Forum
2026 ACORE Finance Forum
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Welcome & Opening Remarks

9:30 AM to 9:40 AM
Ray Long

Ray Long

ACORE

2026 Capital Flows and Market Sentiment Results

This opening session will share the latest industry data from two new ACORE reports: 2025 Clean Energy Investment Trends (produced by S&P Global) and Navigating Uncertainty: Expectations for Clean Energy Finance (2026-2029). We will examine how investment trends, policy impacts, and sentiment shifts are shaping the deployment of capital, setting the scene for deeper discussions throughout the event.

9:40 AM to 10:10 AM
Lesley Hunter

Lesley Hunter

ACORE

Jose Antonio Miranda

Jose Antonio Miranda

Avangrid

Christopher Wilfong

Christopher Wilfong

S&P Global

Power Pennies and Data Dollars: Powering Digital Growth

To power the AI boom, how are joint venture-powered land arrangements evolving from a capital perspective? Experts representing developers, offtakers, and counterparties will break down current pricing trends, market liquidity, and emerging deal structures for defining these high-stakes arrangements.

10:10 AM to 11:00 AM
James Wright

James Wright

CIBC Capital Markets

Brian Callaway

Brian Callaway

Copia Power

Jon Edwards

Jon Edwards

Switch

Claudia Correa Welch

Claudia Correa Welch

Bank of America

Networking Break

11:00 AM to 11:30 AM

Making Markets: Sources of Capital to Meet the Challenge

AI build-out will require a significant mobilization of external debt to fund energy infrastructure. This panel will present investor perspectives on the financing sources available to meet digital growth needs, from Term Loan B and High Yield bonds, to Project Finance and Private Credit.

11:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Ed Zaelke

Ed Zaelke

McDermott Will & Schulte

Alain Halimi

Alain Halimi

Nomura

Dwayne McNicholas

Dwayne McNicholas

J.P. Morgan

Exclusive Lunch Panel: Securing the Electrotech Stack: Industrial Policy and Allied Advantage in Clean Energy

The advanced, digitally-enabled "electrotech" technologies driving the clean energy transition — batteries, power electronics, semiconductors, and their software layers — are also foundational to AI infrastructure, mobility, and defense, making them a growing focus of industrial policy at home and abroad. Yet many of these technologies are overwhelmingly sourced from China, whose government also poses some of the most serious cyber threats to Western critical infrastructure. This panel will explore how allied electrotech industrial policy is taking shape, where capital is likely to follow, and what the investment landscape looks like as trusted-supplier frameworks reshape clean energy markets.

This panel will take place during the networking lunch in the Landmark Hub room. Seating is first come first serve. 

12:30 PM to 1:30 PM
Jeremy Horan

Jeremy Horan

ACORE

Harry Krejsa

Harry Krejsa

Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy & Technology

Katherine McMahon

Katherine McMahon

Valdos Consulting

Pauline Kontos

Pauline Kontos

Citi Services

Networking Lunch

12:30 PM to 1:30 PM

Diligence Deep Dive: Standardizing the 2026 Tax Credit Marketplace

This deep dive will explore how insurers and other stakeholders are supporting risk management to ensure tax credits withstand the heightened scrutiny of FEOC requirements and the evolving tax credit landscape.

1:30 PM to 2:15 PM
Billy Lee

Billy Lee

Reunion

Mario Salandra

Mario Salandra

Aon

Jennifer Bernardini

Jennifer Bernardini

PwC

Alex Lowe

Alex Lowe

Orsted

The 2026 Capital Stack: Market Liquidity in a Shifting Landscape

Our panel of leading capital providers will discuss the complexities of monetizing credits under the new FEOC rules and the latest trends in tax equity and transferability markets. Panelists will also analyze how bridge loans and preferred equity are being deployed to meet tightening construction deadlines, as well as strategies to manage shifting risk profiles.

2:15 PM to 3:15 PM
Anand Dandapani

Anand Dandapani

JPMorgan

James Alderson-Smith

James Alderson-Smith

Crux

Kit Hazel

Kit Hazel

Raymond James

Elizabeth Crouse

Elizabeth Crouse

Holland & Knight

Claus Hertel

Claus Hertel

Rabobank

Networking Break

3:15 PM to 3:45 PM

Project Sponsor Perspectives on the Evolving Capital Stack

Leading clean energy developers will share insights on how they are structuring capital stacks for projects in 2026 and beyond. They will discuss how companies are securing financing from different sources for tech-neutral deals, while navigating FEOC sourcing compliance to preserve project bankability. Panelists will also explore the rise of merchant storage and how they are accessing capital for non-traditional and behind-the-meter projects.  

3:45 PM to 4:45 PM
Malte Kuss

Malte Kuss

RWE Americas

Meghan Schultz

Meghan Schultz

Invenergy

Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith

Cypress Creek Energy

Frank Burkhartsmeyer

Frank Burkhartsmeyer

GridStor

Kaleb Sanchez

Kaleb Sanchez

Mayer Brown

Day 1 Closing Remarks

4:45 PM to 4:50 PM
Ray Long

Ray Long

ACORE

ACORE Energy Drinks Networking Reception

4:45 PM to 5:45 PM

WRISE and ACORE Breakfast

8:30 AM to 9:30 AM

Opening Remarks

9:30 AM to 9:35 AM
Ray Long

Ray Long

ACORE

Keynote Conversation: Lori Ann LaRocco

Lori Ann LaRocco will draw on her decades of reporting experience and unparalleled access to real-time maritime and trade data to decode what's actually happening in global supply chains beneath the headlines. As trade policy and geopolitics reshape sourcing strategies for everything from inputs like critical minerals and chemicals, to the equipment needed to support energy infrastructure buildout, investors and project finance teams need real-time data, as well as the expertise to separate signals from noise, that Lori Ann brings.

Lori Ann will help the audience understand how disruptions in shipping lanes, port activity, and cargo flows are clues that developers and financiers need to pay attention to as supply chain assumptions change in real-time, and what that means for deal timelines, capital stacks, and risk pricing.

9:35 AM to 10:00 AM
Lori Ann LaRocco

Lori Ann LaRocco

LaRocco Consulting

Jeremy Horan

Jeremy Horan

ACORE

The M&A Football Field: What’s Driving Valuations and Deal Flow

Examining the broader M&A trends reshaping the sector, this panel will focus on how utilities and IPPs are scaling their platforms to meet the power density needs of hyperscalers. Panelists will discuss the utility and private equity partnerships coming together to finance demand growth in their territories, and the strategic pathways for companies to evolve in a high growth, consolidating market.

10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Elizabeth Kaiga

Elizabeth Kaiga

DNV

Rich Deming

Rich Deming

CEARTscore

Hideki Chida

Hideki Chida

Marathon Capital

Nick Sangermano

Nick Sangermano

GS Power Partners

Eugeniu Vition

Eugeniu Vition

Macquarie Asset Management

Networking Break

11:00 AM to 11:30 AM

Capital Stacks for Hybridized Assets: Financing the Integrated Power Stack

As developers increasingly co-locate nuclear, geothermal, renewables, and thermal at the site level, lenders and investors are being asked to underwrite a new asset class. This panel will present investor and lender perspectives on the capital structures emerging to finance hybridized projects, from project finance and private credit to structured equity and offtake-backed debt — and what it will take to bring more of these deals across the finish line.

11:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Brooks Friedeman

Brooks Friedeman

Clearway Energy Group

Kara McNutt

Kara McNutt

Wood Mackenzie

John Leonti

John Leonti

Troutman Pepper Locke

Networking Lunch

12:30 PM to 1:30 PM

Keynote Fireside Chat with Author Edward Fishman

1:30 PM to 2:00 PM
Edward Fishman

Edward Fishman

Council on Foreign Relations

Ray Long

Ray Long

ACORE

Scaling BTM Solar and Storage for C&I and Digital Infrastructure

This panel will examine evolving financial structures designed for the Behind-the-Meter (BTM) and Commercial & Industrial (C&I) sectors. Discussion will focus on how aggregation strategies and structured platforms are addressing the unique requirements of distributed assets, particularly for energy-intensive users like data centers.

2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Benoy Thanjan

Benoy Thanjan

Reneu Energy

Taylor Zuccolotto

Taylor Zuccolotto

Sunrun

Adam Altenhofen

Adam Altenhofen

U.S. Bank

Mona Dajani

Mona Dajani

Cooley

Closing Remarks

3:00 PM to 3:05 PM
Ray Long

Ray Long

ACORE