Key Renewable Energy Highlights and Trends from CLEANPOWER 2026
June 9, 2026
FEOC: that acronym sounds suspiciously close to a 4-letter expletive that developers might use when planning around supply chain uncertainties.
Yep… we get it!
Foreign entities of concern (FEOC) rulings certainly have caused headaches for renewable energy companies over the last year. They were also some of the most talked-about topics at the CLEANPOWER 2026 conference in June. On top of that, financing, community engagement, and grid stability rounded out a packed agenda, and we’ve compiled some of our team’s top takeaways.
Navigating FEOC, Tariffs, and Domestic Content
FEOC challenges are only becoming more complex as developers contend with tariffs, evolving domestic content requirements, and uncertainty around federal incentives. Not surprisingly, supply chain strategy and emerging compliance solutions dominated conversations at this year’s CLEANPOWER conference, which took place just one week after the American Clean Power Association (ACP) released its The State of Clean Energy Manufacturing report.
As developers balance FEOC compliance, procurement is playing an increasingly critical role in determining project success.
TruGrid Vice President of Procurement T.J. Smith says, “Procurement has always been a critical component of a project’s success, but more specifically, recently with the FEOC compliance, domestic content requirements, and tariffs, it’s becoming more of a driving factor around project success.” Watch the full video to hear T.J.’s perspective
The Growing Importance of Community Engagement
Throughout the dozens of presentations and panels at CLEANPOWER 2026, APC focused several education sessions on community engagement. Local opposition continues to be one of the driving factors for power project cancellations or postponements. In 2025, nearly 220 GW of solar, storage, and wind projects were canceled, according to Cleanview. Among them, local opposition is cited as one of the main driving factors.
TruGrid Sr. Director of Marketing Amy Norstedt speaks at CLEANPOWER 2026, highlighting the importance of building strong industry partnerships to support the energy transition.
The Growing Importance of Community Engagement
Throughout the dozens of presentations and panels at CLEANPOWER 2026, APC focused several education sessions on community engagement. Local opposition continues to be one of the driving factors for power project cancellations or postponements. In 2025, nearly 220 GW of solar, storage, and wind projects were canceled, according to Cleanview. Among them, local opposition is cited as one of the main driving factors.
In her session, Amy said, “The energy industry is well–aware that community engagement for new projects needs to be done early and often in the development process. But many companies miss critical communication details that can cause their message to either fall flat or be misinterpreted, and that can make or break a project from successfully moving forward.”
Let’s FEOC-ing Go!
Michael Jordan said it best: If you have fun, you’ll play better.
His lessons from the basketball court directly correlate to TruGrid’s approach. We brought that same mindset to CLEANPOWER, building relationships, sharing ideas, and enjoying time with industry peers. Just take a look at our shirts from the conference’s Power Up 5K Fun Run!
We had standard branding on the front of our shirts, and light-hearted industry fun on the back! Playing off the industry’s new F-word, the back of our shirts said, “Let’s FEOC-ing Go!” We had people asking if we had any extra shirts, because they loved the phrase so much.
Before the meetings, networking events, and conference sessions began, the TruGrid team laced up for the CLEANPOWER 2026 5K.
What’s Next for Clean Energy
If CLEANPOWER 2026 proved anything, it’s that the renewable energy industry isn’t short on challenges. From FEOC compliance and domestic content requirements to financing and community engagement, developers are navigating an increasingly complex landscape. But the conversations throughout the conference also highlighted something else: the clean energy industry continues to find practical solutions, share lessons learned, and maintain a sense of optimism along the way.
And if a funny phrase on TruGrid’s T-shirts can become the most talked-about swag items at CLEANPOWER, that must mean that the industry is ready to FEOC-ing move things forward.