Storage, Hybrid Projects Emerging as Renewable Energy Post-OBBBA Winners: LevelTen Energy

Vaughn Morrison, a partner in Troutman Pepper Locke’s Energy Industry Group, was quoted in the November 25, 2025 Utility Dive article, “Storage, Hybrid Projects Emerging as Renewable Energy Post-OBBBA Winners: LevelTen Energy.”

• The number of projects that qualify for tax credits before the accelerated phase-out under OBBBA could grow in the coming months and years, according to Vaughn Morrison, a partner in the energy transactions group at Troutman Pepper Locke.
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• New renewable generation will continue to play a prominent role in the post-OBBBA energy landscape, given large load projections and the strong demand for new renewable generation from hyperscalers, Morrison said. But while there have been a few requests by hyperscalers for energy storage proposals, the hyperscalers themselves haven’t to date shown much interest in owning energy storage projects.
• “If someone could figure out how to make energy storage part of the reliability factor for data centers, you could unleash a lot of potential development that way,” Morrison said.
• Rather, the growing focus on energy storage seems to stem from developers’ increased comfort level with the technology, and especially with lithium-ion battery storage, which continues to dominate the market, according to Morrison. Developers who add a storage component to their wind and solar projects can divvy up each component of the project among different offtakers.
• Hyperscalers may be interested in a power purchase agreement to offset their carbon emissions, Morrison said, and then developer can pursue merchant or tolling agreements to monetize the storage component.
• While tax credits for energy storage emerged from OBBBA mostly unscathed, they can’t be applied to a wind or solar project just because developer added a storage component, Morrison said. That suggests to him that market dynamics are driving a greater portion of developers’ plans than tax credits.
• However, the continuation of tax credits for standalone energy storage under OBBBA has signaled that energy storage could enjoy a more certain policy landscape going forward, he said.
• The number of wind and solar projects expected to qualify for tax credits could also increase in the months to come as developers get a better line of sight on their construction plans for 2029 and 2030, Morrison said.