Share

Expanded restrictions, ten-year clawbacks, and a race to break ground by 2025.
 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.

Good morning and happy Friday, 

The RE+ convention was held in Las Vegas this week, and SEIA released its Q3 2025 Solar Market Insight Report, which among many findings says that while solar and storage are booming, federal policy is driving costs higher. It also projects that the OBBB will cause the U.S. to lose 44 GW of solar deployment by 2030, an 18% decline.

New data from FERC shows that at 14.5 GW of new capacity added in the first half of the year – 75% of the total – solar is the “head and shoulders” leader in new capacity additions. Meanwhile, a new report from BNEF finds that compared to the second half of 2024, in the first half of 2025 investments in renewables shifted from the US (down 36%) to the EU (up 63%).

Yet another report from Ember says that China’s dominance of clean energy means “China is the engine” driving the world away from fossil fuels.

We’re accustomed to hearing about surging demand, but it turns out generation is also increasing more than expected, with growth rates of 2.3% this year and 3% in 2026, exceeding a January forecast of 1.5% growth per year, according to the EIA. As we’ve previously reported, solar’s on a tear, and other renewables are adding capacity; surprisingly, natural gas isn’t, in part because fuel prices are up 40% – “which is encouraging more coal-fired generation.”

And, this TikTok – in which a Texas man waxes Faulkneresque about his electricity bill – has been out since June, but it’s absolutely our pick of the week for a (re)watch.

Read on for more.

All FEOC’ed Up


Since the passage of HR1 (aka the OBBB Act), clean energy developers have been scrambling to figure out their next steps. Treasury’s August guidance clarified how projects can “safe harbor” by starting physical work before the end of the year, but the industry is still waiting on the big one: guidance on the FEOC rules. Here’s what you need to know:

  • FEOC rules go beyond vehicles. Originally meant to keep EV credits out of the hands of companies tied to China, Russia, North Korea, or Iran, the rules were expanded by HR1 to cover three of the IRA’s biggest credits: the 45X advanced manufacturing credit, the 45Y production credit, and the 48E investment credit.

  • Ten-year risk window. The IRS can now “claw back” tax credits for up to ten years if a project is later found to violate FEOC rules. That means a problem that surfaces halfway through a project’s life could trigger massive repayments.

  • Why PTCs may beat ITCs. Investment tax credits (ITCs) are paid up front, whereas production tax credits (PTCs) are earned over time; this difference affects the risk exposure for investors. Expect more solar developers to lean toward PTCs.

  • Small developers feel the pinch. Large players have compliance teams to vet supply chains; smaller firms don’t. And loss of the old 5% safe-harbor test only makes it tougher for them to compete.

  • A 2025 rush. Projects that begin construction by year-end 2025 are exempt from some of the new restrictions. That’s why developers are racing to break ground while they can.

⚡️ The Takeaway


A compliance nightmare for developers, a golden age for attorneys. FEOC rules are shaping up to be a major new compliance headache. Global supply chains are notoriously complex, and even a licensing deal can turn a supplier into a “foreign entity of concern.” Developers are left wondering how they’re supposed to spot those hidden risks. Treasury hasn’t given a release date for the rules, but tax and legal experts say guidance is a top priority—and it can’t come soon enough.

Solar Food Fight


This week brought several flashpoints in the debate over whether solar and farming can coexist. In California, a new nonprofit representing 36 communities has formed to push back against solar projects they say were fast-tracked without their input. In Ohio, farm leaders are warning that tariffs and erratic weather are squeezing crop prices — with some farmers eyeing solar leases as a lifeline. And in Washington, Republicans who once praised solar as a tool for energy independence are now moving to restrict projects on farmland. Here’s what’s happening:

  • California’s Central Valley: Rural Communities Rising, a new nonprofit representing 36 towns, launched after the Darden solar + storage project was fast-tracked without community input. Their Project Acceptance Community Terms (PACT) framework is meant to go beyond transactional CBAs and create predictable, long-term partnerships with developers.

  • Ohio’s farm belt: Corn and soybean growers are facing a double whammy of tariffs and weather losses. With crop prices down and input costs soaring, many see land leases for solar as one of the few ways to stay afloat — but uncertainty about markets and subsidies makes those decisions fraught.

  • In Washington: Republicans who once touted solar as a boost for energy independence are now calling it a threat to farmland. USDA is pulling back support for solar projects under REAP, and lawmakers are framing panels on cropland as “too generous” a subsidy — even though rural districts have received most of the benefits.

⚡️ The Takeaway


Coexistence isn’t the default — solar developers face some of their toughest fights in farm country. Communities are demanding fairer frameworks, farmers under economic strain see solar as both risk and lifeline, and political leaders are rolling back support — a mix that makes trust and predictability the rarest commodities of all.


For a glimpse of what coexistence can look like, check out this map from NREL, which tracks self-reported agrivoltaic sites across the U.S. It’s a reminder that pairing crops and panels isn’t theoretical — it’s already happening, and scaling it could turn today’s flashpoints into tomorrow’s common ground.



A National First: Catching the Clean Energy Wave in LA


This week the Port of Los Angeles hosted the energization of America’s first onshore wave energy site. Eco Wave Power’s project consists of seven blue steel structures that “gently bob up and down with the waves to generate renewable power.” While the pilot is small, hopes are that it can be expanded along the port’s eight-mile-long breakwater, generating enough power for up to 60,000 homes.




Some 300 miles to the north, Project Nexus also achieved an impressive milestone by becoming California’s first solar-covered canal (the nation’s first solar-covered canal project began producing power for the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona last fall).


The 1.6 MW pilot system is supplying power to the Turlock Irrigation District, whose service territory covers about 660 square miles roughly in the middle of California’s Central Valley, a vast agricultural region. It’s the first project in an initiative that’s seeking to “fast-track the deployment of solar canals across the state.” 


Solar-covered canals offer many benefits. Two key advantages are that they conserve water by helping to reduce evaporation, and they repurpose existing infrastructure, avoiding the need for land (and land-use conflicts).


These projects are just a couple of examples of ways in which California is all-in on renewable energy, as Governor Newsom showed last week when he signed an executive order directing state agencies to fast-track clean energy projects before federal tax credits expire. They say that as goes California, so goes the nation – fingers crossed that these projects are harbingers of more next-generation energy innovation.
Thanks for diving into the Developer Dispatch with us.
Bantam Communications Logo Footer Banner

Building American power requires a powerful team.
Learn more

Copyright @ 2025 Bantam Communications, All rights reserved. 


Our mailing address is: 
Bantam Communications
107 W Market Street
Charlottesville, Virginia 22902
United States

  
To stop receiving this newsletter, unsubscribe here.
Email Marketing by ActiveCampaign