Build, Repeat. (A Paces Podcast)

Welcome to this episode of the Clean Energy Chronicles! Today, we have Dillan Wilson and Mitch May, co-founders of Land Acquisition LLC, sharing their journey in the renewable energy and land acquisition space. Starting with Mitch’s early career in construction and solar, and Dillan’s background in real estate and environmental compliance, they’ve come together to form a dynamic partnership.
In this episode, we cover:

• Mitch and Dillan's backgrounds and how they came to start Land Acquisition LLC.
• The challenges and opportunities they faced in the first few months of operation.
• The process of expanding their team and training new members from the ground up.
• Their focus on finding prime sites for distributed generation (DG) and community solar projects.
• The significance of tracking state legislation and the varying risk appetites of developers.
• Creative solutions for overcoming land acquisition challenges, including negotiating lease rates and addressing municipal ordinances.
• Their perspectives on the future growth of the renewable energy market and the increasing importance of land origination in the industry.

Dillan and Mitch share valuable insights on how they differentiate themselves in a competitive market, their approach to expanding into new areas, and the importance of building strong relationships with landowners and communities.

If you’re a developer looking to learn more about Land Acquisition LLC or interested in potential partnerships, reach out to Dillan and Mitch.

Tune in for an enlightening conversation on the intricacies of land acquisition for renewable energy projects and the future of the industry.

Paces helps developers find and evaluate the sites most suitable for renewable development. Interested in a call with James, CEO @ Paces?

In this episode, Riean Norman, Senior Director at Crow Holdings, shares his journey and insights into the renewable energy sector.
The conversation covers:

• Riean's career path, starting as a land representative at Chevron and transitioning into renewable energy development at NextEra.
• His shift from subsurface oil and gas development to surface-based renewable projects.
• Navigating skepticism towards renewables in traditional oil and gas regions and balancing individual landowner rights with community benefits.
• The evolving relationship between developers and utilities, and the need for better collaboration to streamline project development.
• Crow Holdings’ strategy of leveraging its large real estate portfolio to develop front-of-the-meter solar projects.
• Advice for young professionals entering the renewable energy space, emphasizing the importance of starting with land acquisition to build a strong foundation.

Tune in now for an inspiring conversation on the future of energy!

Check out Crow Holdings at www.crowholdings.com. 

Paces helps developers find and evaluate the sites most suitable for renewable development. Interested in a call with James, CEO @ Paces?

In this relaunch episode, James McWalter interviews Charles Bai, CTO & Co-Founder of Paces, to explore what’s changed over the past year in both the energy industry and at Paces.
The conversation covers:

• Continued growth in renewable energy projects.
• New advancements in solar, EV charging infrastructure, and battery storage.
• Increasing competition for prime sites among developers.
• Rising competition between data centers and advanced manufacturing for the same sites.
• AI’s rapid rise driving demand and reshaping energy infrastructure.
• Paces secured Series A funding, doubled the team size in six months, and expanded product features to better meet customer needs and adapt to a fast-changing industry.

Looking ahead, the podcast will release new episodes every other week. James and Charles invite listeners to provide feedback and suggest future guests, reinforcing Paces' commitment to staying connected with the clean energy community.

Paces helps developers find and evaluate the sites most suitable for renewable development. Interested in a call with James, CEO @ Paces?

Wonderful to speak to Lena and Kevin, the first two software engineers at Paces! We discussed:

• Their path to joining Paces
• What drove you towards climate change as an issue?
• How much of your company culture is a function of company size?
• Defining engineering culture
• The importance of engineers having a direct relationship with customers.

We even iterated on how engineering at Paces can be improved on the call!

Paces helps developers find and evaluate the sites most suitable for renewable development. Interested in a call with James, CEO @ Paces?

Great to chat with Carson Weinand, Senior Project Developer at  CVE North America, about recent changes to solar development as well as the importance of GIS data. We discuss:

• How he became a product developer at CVE
• Falling in love with GIS
• What does perfect look like for project development data?
• The real market killer for community solar.
• New rules for the IRA

And much more!

Paces helps developers find and evaluate the sites most suitable for renewable development. Interested in a call with James, CEO @ Paces?

We sit down for an insightful conversation with Corey Hindin, Director of Business Development at AC Power, to talk about transforming brownfields into productive solar farms. We delve into:

• How business development is structured at AC Power, which entails various steps ranging from market exploration to closing agreements with landowners for project due diligence.
• The unique characteristics of brownfield development, such as the need for intricate planning and careful navigation of regulatory restrictions, compared to more straightforward greenfield development.
• The increase in competition and interest in brownfield solar development due to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the importance of standing out through expertise and a responsible approach.
• The stringent environmental regulations in place for transitioning brownfields into solar projects and how AC Power manages these complexities to create investor-friendly ventures.
• AC Power's ambitious goal to generate 1.21 gigawatts of energy and become the industry leader in brownfield solar development.

And a lot more!

Paces helps developers find and evaluate the sites most suitable for renewable development. Interested in a call with James, CEO @ Paces?

We speak with Ryan Kelliher, VP of Renewable Solutions at Tradition Energy and Executive Director of the American Solar Grazing Association (ASGA). We discuss why:

• Solar grazing is beneficial for farmers and rural communities
• Sheep grazing is helpful for the permitting of solar projects, as it aligns incentives for the developer and the farmer and reduces community opposition.
• The lack of sheep in the US is a challenge for solar grazing, but the potential opportunity for farmers is significant.
• it is important of building emotional relationships with the local community to reduce community opposition to solar projects.
• And much more!

Go to this link to find out more about ASGA or to become a member!

Paces helps developers find and evaluate the sites most suitable for renewable development. Interested in a call with James, CEO @ Paces?

In this episode, James McWalter interviews Kyle Baranko, a data scientist at Paces, about the intersection of energy and data. They discuss:

• How renewable energy companies are using data to optimize projects and the challenges of working with legacy energy systems. 
• The types of data that renewable energy project developers care about, including interconnection, geophysical and environmental constraints, permeability, and financial incentives. 
• The challenges of data collection, data maturity, and modeling maturity in the energy industry.

Paces helps developers find and evaluate the sites most suitable for renewable development. Interested in a call with James, CEO @ Paces?

Carbotnic is now Act, Build, Repeat! 

Paces helps developers find and evaluate the sites most suitable for renewable development. Interested in a call with James, CEO @ Paces?

Paces helps developers find and evaluate the sites most suitable for renewable development. Interested in a call with James, CEO @ Paces?