The Forum was moderated by John Geraghty, National Practice Leader of Energy & Infrastructure at Marshall & Stevens. Panelists included Bobby Majumder, Partner and Co-Chair of the Energy Industry Team at FBT Gibbons; Ken Malik, Head of Project Development at Grupo Cobra; Brent Nelson, Senior Managing Director of Markets and Strategy at Ascend Analytics; and Fahad Siddiqui, Director of Structured Finance at TotalEnergies.
The current environment is not stopping development so much as separating projects with durable economics from developers that depended on fast exits, aggressive assumptions, or incentive-driven valuations. That was a central message from the developer side of the Forum.
With the tax incentive scaffolding that supported the last cycle now stripped away for solar and wind technologies, and FEOC (Foreign Entity of Concern) compliance adding a new layer of supply chain uncertainty, the question for energy developers in 2026 is whether your projects are bankable without the federal support structures that garnered so much activity in those sectors.
During the Forum the panelists discussed exactly what it takes to stay active, productive and viable in those sectors. Here is what they said.
1. The develop-and-flip model is under significant pressure
The era of developing projects to NTP and selling at a premium is under significant pressure for undercapitalized players.
“Developers who are well-capitalized, who have operating assets, are in a better position than developers that are not well-capitalized, who are develop-and-flip shops who used to command a premium in the market.” – Fahad Siddiqui
There is a structural difference between developers building to sell and IPPs building to own for the 35-year life of an asset. In a market where incentive certainty is gone and patient capital is the currency of survival, the develop-and-flip model requires a fundamental rethink.
2. Supply-and-demand economics are now the bankability test, not incentives
Projects that are still getting financed are the ones that work on fundamentals.
“What we’re seeing is not so much the prospect of acquiring a project but rather getting inundated with a mix of good projects that can stand alone on their own, based on those supply-and-demand economics versus ones that were heavily reliant on safe harboring.” – Ken Malik
The discussion repeatedly returned to whether projects could stand on their own economics.
3. There is no silver bullet, and regionalization is the framework
The discussion pushed back on any single-technology thesis. Fahad Siddiqui put it plainly: “I don’t think there will be one silver bullet that we’ve been hearing for so long.”
The discussion highlighted a more selective development approach: prioritizing sites with demonstrated transmission access, existing interconnection rights, and long-term offtake structures that local infrastructure can realistically support.
Whether the right solution is solar plus storage, gas, or a hybrid depends on the region, the pipeline infrastructure, the load profile, and the timeline. The developers still advancing projects are the ones doing region-by-region analysis.
4. Execution expertise is now the differentiating factor
In a buyer’s market, capital alone isn’t enough. Ken Malik was explicit:
“Money is not going to replace expertise.”
Clear and consistent execution across permitting, interconnection, community engagement, and construction management is what determines a buildable project.
Community opposition to solar, battery storage, and data centers is becoming a more visible development risk, particularly in the local Texas examples discussed during the forum. The developers managing it successfully are doing so through proactive public education and early stakeholder engagement.The discussion suggested that the developers best positioned in 2026 are
those who build deep, fundamentals-based pipelines, secure transmission access early, and can credibly underwrite projects on economics alone.
For well-capitalized operators with the right portfolio and the patience to hold, this is a meaningful buying opportunity.
The full conversation on what it takes to develop and finance projects in 2026 is available on demand. Watch the recording or download the 2026 Energy Outlook Report for our complete analysis.
