Build, Repeat. (A Paces Podcast)
Deep discussions with those who are helping us build our way out of climate change.
Episodes
In this episode, James talks with Bill Francis, Vice President of Emerging Markets at New Energy Equity — a distributed solar developer that has spent over a decade building community solar programs across the country.
Bill joined NEE at the end of 2025 after seven years at Engie, arriving right as the traditional community solar model is showing real strain. Programs are saturating. Development capital is tighter. The ITC safe harb...
In this episode, James talks with Sam McGarvey, Director of Origination at NineDot Energy — a developer, owner, and operator of front-of-meter battery storage systems across New York City's five boroughs.
NineDot made a deliberate bet: ignore every other market and go all-in on the single hardest place to build energy storage in the country. That focus has taken them from 3 employees to 84, and toward 400–500 megawatts of distr...
In this episode, James talks with Matt Plante, President of Voltus, about what it actually takes to build a virtual power plant that grid operators call on every single day.
Voltus aggregates distributed energy resources, including industrial loads, batteries, commercial buildings, and now residential assets, into virtual power plants that participate in wholesale electricity markets. Since April 2024, Voltus has been dispatched by ...
The grid has been here before. Between 1960 and 2000, US utilities grew demand 4–5x while cutting real electricity prices by 20%, and the lessons from that era are more relevant than ever.
Mark Dyson is Managing Director of Electricity at RMI, where he's spent nearly two decades working on grid modernization, distributed energy resources, and the policy and market design that holds it all together. Before returning to...
In this episode, James talks with Derek Stenclik, Founding Partner at Telos Energy. Derek shares his path into the power sector, starting at GE where he spent nearly a decade working on grid planning, resource adequacy, and early studies on integrating wind and solar at scale, before co-founding Telos to tackle some of the grid’s most complex planning challenges.
The conversation focuses on how utilities and grid operators are navig...
In this episode, James talks with Craig Gordon, Head of Global Policy, Regulatory Affairs, and Business Development at Mainspring Energy. Craig brings deep experience in clean energy—from scaling Invenergy’s wind and solar projects to shaping U.S. energy policy with the American Clean Power Association. Today, he’s helping Mainspring redefine dispatchable generation for a rapidly electrifying world.
They discuss how Mainspring’s lin...
In this episode, James talks with Tony and Alex from the Paces team about their recent white paper exploring the mismatch between data center growth projections and actual grid planning. Tony, a seasoned power developer, and Alex, a researcher focused on data center flexibility, dive into how speculative load growth is driving transmission investments that may never serve real projects.
They discuss how Paces analyzed over 14 millio...
In this episode, James talks with Shanu Mathew, Senior Vice President at Lazard, where he co-leads a U.S. sustainable equity strategy. With a background in traditional finance and a passion for climate and sustainability, Shanu blends data-driven investing with macro-level insight into energy and technology transitions.
They explore how Shanu’s career evolved from M&A banking to managing portfolios at the intersection of sustain...
In this episode, James talks with Gabe Messercola, Director of Data Center Solutions at EDF. Gabe shares his journey from studying environmental policy and working as a rock climbing instructor to building renewable energy projects at Nexamp and leading innovative data center strategies at EDF. With deep experience in asset management and power markets, Gabe now focuses on aligning renewable generation with high-demand loads like d...
In this episode, James talks with Nat Sahlstrom, Chief Energy Officer at Tract, a data center developer enabling the next generation of digital infrastructure. Nat shares his unconventional journey from Seattle’s punk rock scene to leading energy strategy at Amazon and now Tract. With over two decades in energy, he brings deep insight into the intersection of data center growth, power planning, and sustainable infrastructure.
They e...
In this episode, James talks with Hilary Clark, Senior Director of Social Licensing at the American Clean Power Association (ACP). With over two decades in permitting and regulatory affairs, Hilary brings deep expertise on how clean energy developers can effectively engage communities and navigate the complex siting landscape in the U.S.
They discuss the evolving challenges in local and state-level permitting for wind, solar, and ba...
In this episode, James talks with Brian Janous, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Cloverleaf Infrastructure and former Head of Energy at Microsoft. With 25+ years in the utility space — including a decade leading Microsoft’s cloud energy strategy — Brian shares what it was like to scale power procurement during the hyperscale boom and why he founded Cloverleaf to solve the next frontier: grid-aligned power delivery for dat...
In this episode, James talks with Michael Thomas, Founder of CleanView and creator of Distilled. Michael has built a career around impactful storytelling and actionable data, aiming to accelerate clean energy adoption. From tech marketing to climate entrepreneurship, he has channeled his curiosity into initiatives that demystify energy trends and empower decision-makers.
They discuss the evolution and impact of CleanView, a real-tim...
In this episode, James talks with Pat Lynch, Executive Managing Director and Global Head of Data Center Solutions at CBRE. With 30+ years in digital infrastructure, Pat shares his journey from early fiber builds in the 90s to leading CBRE’s global data center strategy.
They discuss how CBRE’s data center business scaled from 3% to 10% of company revenue through strategic talent and investment, and how today's growth is shaped b...
In this episode, James sits down with Paces colleagues Kyle Baranko and Tony Wagler to discuss their new white paper, “Pre-Development at Scale: Modeling Risk in Early-Stage Solar Development”. They dive into how AI, probabilistic methods, and standardized development workflows can dramatically reduce soft costs and increase project success rates.
Kyle shares how Monte Carlo simulations were used to model development risks and timel...
In this episode, we sit down with Christine Larson, Head of Strategy & Operations at Modern Energy and interim COO at Industrial Sun, to explore how early-stage developers can thrive in a landscape defined by high complexity, capital intensity, and shifting market signals.
Christine shares how Modern’s model goes beyond funding—providing hands-on operational support like IT and accounting—so founders can focus on what really mat...
The power demands of AI data centers are skyrocketing—but how will we meet them?
In this episode, James sits down with Tyler Norris (Duke University) and Kyle Baranko (Paces) to dig into two influential white papers offering different solutions. One explores off-grid, solar-plus-storage microgrids as a fast, clean option. The other highlights how we can better utilize existing grid capacity by embracing flexible interconnections and...
In this episode, we sit down with Nan Ransohoff and Duncan Campbell to discuss the evolving landscape of solar microgrids, AI data centers, and the urgent need for climate-driven innovation. Duncan reflects on how today’s energy solutions are just the beginning, predicting a future where bold, disruptive action reshapes the grid.
We dive into:
- How Stripe and Paces are driving groundbreaking projects
- Why the electricity sector need...
In this episode, we sit down with Scott Aaronson, founder and CEO of Demeter Land Development, to explore his unexpected path from criminal defense attorney to renewable energy land origination expert.
Scott recounts how his real estate ventures led him to community solar development, shedding light on the evolving challenges of securing land for distributed generation (DG) projects. He discusses the industry's transformation f...
In this episode, we sit down with Peter Hans Hirschboeck, founder and managing director of impactECI, to explore the rapidly evolving world of data centers and energy infrastructure. With a background in electrical engineering and years of experience leading energy projects at AWS, Peter shares invaluable insights on how the demand for AI computing power is reshaping the energy landscape.
We discuss:
- The massive growth of data ce...
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