Conference Highlights

While community benefits agreements (CBA) are an important piece of the puzzle, successful project development requires a broader strategy for earning and maintaining community trust. This session will explore the full spectrum of community engagement, from structuring effective CBAs and meeting CEJA’s Minimum Equity Standards (MES) to building coalitions with local governments, agricultural stakeholders, and underserved communities. Panelists will draw on real-world experiences across solar, storage, and data center development to share actionable insights for navigating Midwest markets, advancing local hiring and contractor hub opportunities, and turning potential opposition into lasting project support.

Community solar development in Illinois comes with a distinct set of regulatory and interconnection hurdles, which this panel will explore head-on. Discussions will cover the role of municipal regulation in community solar siting, including voluntary and involuntary annexations, subdivision authority, planning jurisdiction in the wake of Equity Solar v. Grundy County, and solar development rights under the CEJA Solar Bill of Rights. Panelists will also examine interconnection challenges unique to community solar, including strict timetables, rising costs, and new reliability screen tests, as well as the practical tools and strategies developers are using to overcome them.

The financing landscape for solar and storage has shifted considerably since the OBBBA reshaped tax credit structures, tightened timelines, and introduced new FEOC compliance burdens. This session brings together lenders, tax equity investors, transferability platforms, and developers who have closed deals in this environment to examine what it actually takes to get a project financed today, from structuring tax credit transfers and navigating due diligence to positioning projects for bankability before capital conversations begin across utility-scale and C&I project structures alike. Attendees will leave with a realistic, deal-tested view of what it takes to get clean energy projects financed in today’s market.

The conversation around domestic manufacturing has shifted from ambition to execution. Billions are being committed to onshore solar and battery supply chains, but the reality is more complex. Projects still depend heavily on global inputs, while tariffs, trade policy, and geopolitical risk continue to reshape sourcing strategies in real time. This session examines the evolving balance between onshore buildout and offshore reliance across solar and storage, from component bottlenecks and cost pressures to bankability, timelines, and quality control. What does a resilient supply chain actually look like in practice, and how are leading players positioning themselves to deliver at scale in an increasingly fragmented global market?

The One Big Beautiful Bill is entering its second year, and its impacts on solar markets are already profound. The 25D homeowner credit expired at the end of 2025, a critical 48E commercial ITC milestone is approaching in July, and key rules around FEOC and domestic content are still awaiting clarification — leaving developers and installers operating in a policy fog. On the trade side, Solar IV, Section 232, and IEEPA tariffs are adding another layer of uncertainty to project economics and equipment procurement. This session delivers a concise, actionable update on where things actually stand, what’s been decided, what’s still in play, and what matters most for your business in 2026 and beyond.

The explosive growth of AI and cloud computing is driving unprecedented data center development across the Midwest, with load forecasts that are rewriting utility resource plans almost overnight. At the same time, broad electrification of transportation, buildings, and industry is compounding demand growth not seen in a generation. This session explores how data center operators, utilities, and developers are navigating this new reality — from flexible load strategies and behind-the-meter solar+storage to creative interconnection solutions and long-duration energy storage. Panelists will examine how the Midwest’s renewable energy resources and available land position the region as a data center hub, and what solar and storage developers need to know to capture this once-in-a-cycle opportunity.

The C&I solar pitch used to be simple: offset your electric bill and lock in savings. But in today’s market, the most successful projects are stacking value well beyond net metering. This session explores the emerging revenue opportunities Midwest C&I developers are tapping into — demand charge management with storage, utility demand response programs, and VPPA structures. Panelists will also examine the evolving REC market and whether voluntary and compliance credit values can become a meaningful and durable revenue stream for C&I projects as state programs mature. What’s actually penciling in MISO and PJM territory today, and where is the next wave of C&I value creation headed?

Part I is a closed-door, pre-conference strategy workshop — a two-hour facilitated working session bringing together developers, financiers, EPCs, manufacturers, utilities, investors, policy leaders, and large energy buyers to pressure-test assumptions and build frameworks across capital structures, merchant economics, supply chain resilience, state policy pathways, and more. This is not a panel. It is a working session designed to produce real strategic output.

Part II is a read-out available to the full IESNA Midwest audience — where the most compelling ideas and frameworks from the workshop are synthesized and presented in a more traditional session format.