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Finance Forum 2026 Opens with Focus on Investment Certainty, Reliability, and Growing Power Demand

May 13, 2026

Today, clean energy investors, developers, lenders, corporate buyers, and policymakers gathered in New York City for the opening day of ACORE Finance Forum 2026. Across conversations on capital markets, grid reliability, tax policy, and infrastructure deployment, one theme carried throughout the day: electricity demand growth is reshaping the U.S. energy economy and increasing the need for investment in new infrastructure.

ACORE Releases New Investor Survey Report

We began the day with the release of ACORE’s new report, Navigating Uncertainty: Clean Energy Investment Trends (2026-2029), which surveyed 36 leaders at U.S. and multinational companies that collectively invested billions in the U.S. clean energy market in 2025. 

These respondents largely told us they plan to increase their U.S. clean energy investments in 2026 despite growing concerns around policy, regulatory, and interconnection uncertainty. Investors identified federal regulatory and policy risks, along with interconnection delays and costs, as the top challenges facing future investment decisions. 

The survey also found that utility-scale solar and energy storage remain the most attractive technologies for investment. 

“Our sector is thriving and poised to meet this moment of significant electricity demand growth, but investors and developers need policy certainty to deliver on this critical infrastructure for American energy security,” said ACORE President and CEO Ray Long. 

Discussions Focused on Financing and Infrastructure Challenges

Throughout the day, we heard speakers discuss how the industry is adapting to shifting market conditions while continuing to finance and deploy energy infrastructure at scale. 

Today’s sessions explored: 

• The evolving clean energy capital stack 

• Large-load growth from data centers and industrial demand 

• Transmission and interconnection challenges 

• Tax policy and investment certainty 

• The growing role of energy storage 

• Financing strategies for next-generation energy infrastructure 

Speakers emphasized that while capital remains available for clean energy deployment, long-term investment decisions depend on durable market signals and greater certainty around infrastructure development timelines. 

Almost every moderator asked panelists what is the one thing Congress could do to increase energy deployment to meet demand growth. The almost unanimous answer was: Deliver policy certainty. 

Reliability and Affordability Remain Central Themes

Today’s conversations also highlighted the increasingly connected nature of affordability, reliability, and energy deployment. Across multiple panels, speakers called for faster permitting, expanded transmission infrastructure, and more efficient interconnection processes to meet rising electricity demand. 

We’ll share another update from the Finance Forum tomorrow as we continue to explore capital markets and the future of U.S. clean energy investment.

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