Accelerating Data Center and Renewable Energy Siting with Paces

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Mar 13, 2025

James McWalter, CEO of Paces and host of Build Repeat, dives into the complexities of renewable energy project siting. He discusses how their AI-powered platform streamlines site evaluations by integrating crucial data like zoning and environmental factors. The conversation reveals the urgent need for innovative solutions to meet the rising energy demands from the AI boom. McWalter also highlights the strategic importance of off-grid solar microgrids and shares insights into financing strategies for future renewable projects in collaboration with local communities.

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ANECDOTE

James's Background

James McWalter's background is in applying machine learning and data techniques to various business problems.
He lived in Mexico for five years while working for US-based companies and became interested in climate change in 2019.

INSIGHT

Renewable Project Development Challenges

Renewable energy project developers struggle to identify viable sites due to expensive de-risking processes.
Most projects fail due to power interconnection or permitting issues.

INSIGHT

Decreasing Grid Capacity

Paces forecasts a 22% decrease in suitable renewable energy sites due to decreasing grid capacity.
Permitting issues exacerbate this problem.

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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