James McWalter is the CEO and co-founder of Paces, an AI-powered software platform that helps clean energy project developers identify and evaluate the best sites for new projects. Paces streamlines the process by integrating interconnection, environmental, zoning, and legal data on land parcels—key factors developers must navigate when selecting viable locations. MCJ is proud to be an investor in Paces through our venture funds.

In renewable project development, one of the biggest challenges is quickly pinpointing sites with the highest likelihood of reaching operation efficiently. As James explains, this process depends on multiple factors: the capacity of the local grid, whether upgrades are needed to connect a project, the feasibility of permitting, and more. And as we discuss, the recent AI-driven data center boom is intensifying the urgency and complexity of each of these considerations.

Paces’ platform is being used by both clean energy developers and data center developers who need to get projects built as quickly, cost-effectively, and cleanly as possible. A few months ago, Paces co-authored a white paper with Scale Microgrids and Stripe Climate titled Fast, Scalable, Clean, and Cheap Enough: How Off-Grid Solar Microgrids Can Power the AI Race—a report that sparked a lot of conversation. In it, they explore whether the forecasted energy demands of AI can be met with off-grid, behind-the-meter projects.

Oh, and James also hosts his own podcast, Build Repeat, where he interviews project developers and others actively building and deploying clean energy solutions.

With all that said, James and I dive into his background, the origins of Paces, and much more in this episode.

In this episode, we cover: 

• [2:48] Introduction to Paces and James’ background
• [6:26] The origin story of Paces and how James met his co-founder, Charles
• [9:24] Key challenges faced by clean energy project developers
• [11:45] Permitting bottlenecks and delays
• [14:57] The growing challenge of decreasing grid capacity
• [16:01] How Paces’ software addresses site selection challenges
• [19:11] The role of NIMBY opposition in the permitting process
• [22:42] How developers leverage Paces' platform
• [24:51] Paces’ customer segmentation and user types
• [28:08] How Paces supports data center development
• [30:16] Insights from Paces’ white paper on off-grid solutions for AI-driven data centers (available at offgridai.us)
• [38:49] The feasibility of achieving 100% renewable energy for data centers
• [46:10] Paces’ fundraising to date and the types of partners they’re looking for

Episode recorded on Feb 19, 2025 (Published on March 6, 2025)

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant