Podcast Summary: Transmission – "How to Cut Clean Energy Development Time in Half: Paces"
Host: Ed Porter (Modo Energy)
Guest: Stuart Pomeroy (Head of Business Development, Paces)
Date: March 24, 2026
Overview
This episode of Transmission explores the costly delays endemic to clean energy project development—especially grid-scale storage, renewables, and large loads like data centers—and how new models can radically accelerate timelines. Host Ed Porter is joined by Stuart Pomeroy of Paces, a software platform supporting energy infrastructure projects. They discuss why 80% of projects currently fail to reach completion, and how Paces’ parallel, data-driven workflow can slash development times, reduce soft costs, boost project viability, and help deliver more clean energy faster.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. The Current State of Clean Energy Development
Sequential and Fragmented Process
- Traditional development is like “mise en place” in a kitchen—everything is done step by step, often by different consultants.
- Land identification, environmental reviews, interconnection, and permitting are usually handled one at a time.
- This results in huge delays and wasted soft costs, contributing to an exceptionally high failure rate for projects (80%+).
"Most developers tackle them one at a time, often handing each of them to a different consultant, then waiting months for reports. Eight in 10 projects do not make it through the company."
— Ed Porter, 00:03
2. What Paces Offers – The Parallel Approach
Ecosystem vs. Point Solutions
- Paces brings together all early-stage development data and workflows into one software platform.
- Enables running multiple workstreams—land, environmental, interconnection, permitting—in parallel vs. sequentially.
- Supports solar, storage, geothermal, hydrogen, and more, for both generation and large-load (data center, manufacturing) siting.
"It's an anti point solution... Instead of doing one thing, 0 to 100%, and then starting the next, you do those activities in parallel. It condenses the time for development."
— Stuart Pomeroy, 02:09
3. Types of Customers and Use Cases
- Four core verticals:
- Generation Developers (solar, BESS, etc.)
- Load Developers (data centers, advanced manufacturing, life sciences)
- Electric Utilities
- Financial/Real Estate (capital markets, specialty real estate)
- Paces helps them find the best sites, vet feasibility, handle regulatory screening, and prepare for construction.
"Anything that results in steel in the ground, really."
— Stuart Pomeroy, 03:25
4. Data Layers and Site Selection Logic
- Paces aggregates parcel, environmental, floodplain, zoning, interconnection capacity, and policy data.
- Allows for risk-low site selection and fast go/no-go decisions.
“Think of it like a layer cake... Start with the land data, environmental data, wetlands, floodplains—am I able to, with low risk, build at that location?”
— Stuart Pomeroy, 04:29
5. Breaking the Old Model
From Sequential to Parallel
- Old: Identify land → Check environment → Interconnection study → Permitting; each step waits for the last.
- Paces: All steps can happen concurrently, cutting development time by 50% or more.
Efficiency and Quality Gains
- Higher throughput per team member, lower soft costs, improved project conversion.
- Pipeline conversion rate can shift from 10% to 50–60% using the platform.
“You can condense the time from 12-24 months to 6-8 months... More projects to completion at the end of the year, a lower cost per megawatt, which is great for any development team and any business CEO.”
— Stuart Pomeroy, 07:45
6. Replacing/Complementing Consultants
- Early stage screens (environmental, interconnection, permitting) can be run in hours or days, not months.
- Full replacement for routine third-party studies like Critical Issues Analysis (CIA) and Power Flow Studies.
“A power report for either injection or withdrawal... Normally outsourced, takes months, five to six digits show up on your invoice—Paces does it much more economically, and in one to two weeks.”
— Stuart Pomeroy, 10:00
7. Metrics & Impact
- Traditional: Out of 100 land parcels, 10 become viable projects (10% conversion).
- With Paces: Screen 500 parcels (5x), end up with 100 higher-quality options, and then convert 50–60 to real projects (50–60% completion).
“80% of projects fail because of these sequential, poor analog processes... With Paces, you might be able to screen 500 parcels and convert 50–60 projects, not 10.”
— Stuart Pomeroy, 12:26
8. Risk, Uncertainty, and Policy Change
- No one can perfectly predict policy or landowner willingness.
- Paces stays “close to the market”—tracking news, policy trends, and sentiment.
- Offers a “Permitting Predictor” tool, quantifying likelihood of approval based on available data (meeting minutes, social media, policy analysis).
"There’s a gray zone where it’s a special use or potentially likely... The Permitting Predictor allows developers to understand, is something 75% likely to be approved, 50%, 25%?"
— Stuart Pomeroy, 15:26
9. Community Sentiment Module
- Gathers public records, social media, meeting minutes regarding infrastructure support/opposition.
- Makes “community sentiment” data easily available; does not (yet) apply deep algorithmic analysis, as risk thresholds are developer-specific.
“With Pace’s software team and the tools that we have at our disposal, we’re able to gather that and make it really easily accessible in Paces... So the developer can, as quickly as possible, get a snapshot of the community sentiment for that area.”
— Stuart Pomeroy, 28:05
10. Regional Trends & Hot Markets
- Generation side: Developers are becoming more flexible with siting (e.g., looser requirements on parcel shape, acreage, slope).
- Data center expansion is hot in secondary regions: Alabama, Mississippi, Indiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin (non-coastal, less congested power markets).
“Alabama and Mississippi... Indiana is really hot for new data centers... It’s been interesting to see all the major announcements into non-coastal, non-highly populated areas.”
— Stuart Pomeroy, 23:40
11. Supporting Off-Grid and Onsite Generation
- Off-grid solutions (AI/data center campuses, microgrids) are gaining traction due to grid congestion and interconnection delays.
- White paper with Scale Microgrids and Stripe shows solar + storage behind-the-meter can compete on cost and drastically simplify/accelerate development.
“If you look at the off grid model, you’re able to find a lot of relief... Cost, complexity, and time.”
— Stuart Pomeroy, 33:40
12. Future of Project Bankability
- Paces’ streamlined process, data transparency, and speed are recognized by developers, capital markets, and large utilities, supporting project bankability.
- Case studies show a massive positive impact on development velocity, cost, and closing rates.
13. Thought Leadership and Platform Growth
- Paces is expanding its modular reporting and enterprise integrations.
- Recent ERCOT market white paper triangulates transmission build, data center sites, and high-viability land—offering fresh market insights.
- Hiring to support rapid growth.
Notable Quotes and Moments
-
On the core value proposition:
“Our tagline is kind of the inverse. 80% of projects fail because of these sequential poor analog processes. And so PACES is an antidote to that super high failure rate.”
— Stuart Pomeroy, 11:38 -
On breaking through the bottleneck:
“Permitting isn’t actually all that scary. It doesn’t have to be a black box... It can be predicted, it can be broken down with some of the AI tools that we’re using.”
— Stuart Pomeroy, 43:20 -
On the coming rise of off-grid development:
“The off grid solution is going to be a larger part of the energy mix than people realize... The opportunity cost is so high of those projects sitting on the sidelines that the off grid model makes a ton of sense.”
— Stuart Pomeroy, 41:35 -
Anecdote on changing site preferences:
“Developers are being more creative to site their projects more strategically by loosening their development criteria and at the same time doing so in parallel with their banks, in parallel with their insurance agencies to not take on any additional risk.”
— Stuart Pomeroy, 22:20
Timestamps for Major Segments
- 00:03 – 01:08 | Introduction – Framing the slow, sequential state of development
- 02:01 – 05:24 | What Paces Offers – The “anti point solution” and parallel workflow
- 08:56 – 11:05 | Soft cost savings, replacing consultants, higher conversion metrics
- 14:31 – 17:33 | Assessing risk, policy shifts, and landowner unpredictability
- 18:48 – 24:32 | Customer needs, modularity, regional growth hotspots
- 27:39 – 31:22 | Community backlash as risk: how Paces tracks and surfaces sentiment
- 31:44 – 35:02 | Off-grid solutions and the new market for on-site generation
- 36:22 – 37:39 | Revenue opportunity analytics and collaboration (with Modo Energy)
- 39:53 – 43:20 | What’s next for Paces: modularity, enterprise integration, thought leadership
- 41:35 – 44:18 | Contrarian takes: Off-grid’s future & demystifying permitting
Tone and Language
The conversation is upbeat and forward-looking, with Stuart Pomeroy eagerly diving into technical detail while keeping the tone accessible. Both host and guest are candid about industry pain points (permits, delays, NIMBYism), but optimistic about the compounding impact of data-driven workflows and systemic process overhaul.
Takeaways for Listeners New to the Episode
- Most clean energy projects stall due to slow, consultant-driven, stepwise processes.
- Paces' platform enables simultaneous environmental, land, interconnection, and permitting review—drastically accelerating timelines and improving conversion ratios.
- The software is data-rich, modular, and serves a broad cross-section of asset types and customer categories.
- Developers are responding by expanding Paces across organizations and into more innovative use cases (e.g., off-grid data centers).
- New tools like the Permitting Predictor and community sentiment modules help developers navigate risk in uncertain policy and social landscapes.
- Notably, off-grid and behind-the-meter projects are likely to play a much larger role in the future energy mix than currently expected.
- Key processes like permitting—often seen as a black box—are becoming more predictable and manageable with the right data tools.
For more:
- Explore Paces’ thought leadership (e.g., ERCOT and off-grid white papers)
- Connect with Stuart Pomeroy and PACES via LinkedIn/email (details in show notes)
- Visit modoenergy.com for news, insights, and the Weekly Dispatch newsletter.