Podcast 201: Why Electricity Decides Everything Now in Economic Development with Timothy Comerford
When your biggest site-selection issue is “Do we have any electrons left?”
Episode 201 of the Econ Dev Show Podcast is out. Listen now.
Dane Carlson
In this episode of the Econ Dev Show, Dane Carlson talks with Timothy Comerford of Biggins Lacey & Shapiro about the rapidly shifting reality of power availability in site selection.
Sitehunt (from the Econ Dev Show's Dane Carlson) will not replace your relationships, manage your BR&E visits, or do your board politics. It will not invent workforce where none exists, and it will not make you sound smart after one login. Wit and wisdom are still on you.
But if you care about speed, clarity, and getting the RFI out the door with confidence, Sitehunt may be the smartest small investment you make this year.
Tim explains how explosive demand from data centers and industrial users is overwhelming electric utilities, reshaping incentive policy, and lengthening timelines for securing capacity. He breaks down the biggest misconceptions around power lead times, why transmission is often the bottleneck, how utilities are adapting with costly engineering studies and take-or-pay requirements, and what steps EDOs must take to credibly position their sites.
This is a masterclass on the new electricity-driven geography of economic development.
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Ten Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers
- Build strong, direct relationships with utility contacts who will actually talk to prospects.
- Understand that real timelines for securing large loads run in years, not months.
- Work with utilities to pre-identify transmission routes and right-of-way feasibility.
- Gather realistic load estimates from prospects instead of just taking their engineer's peak numbers.
- Know whether your sites already sit near substations with real remaining capacity.
- Incorporate redundancy needs early, since 100 percent backup can double infrastructure requirements.
- Prepare for developers who request huge speculative loads and learn how to differentiate serious projects.
- Recognize that incentives tied to data centers may face political pressure due to ratepayer impacts.
- Push utilities and state partners to invest in long-range planning that anticipates industrial and data center growth.
- Educate local stakeholders that modern site readiness now includes power readiness as a top priority.
Episode Links
- Market Update: The Growing Demand for Data Centers
- Tim Comerford | LinkedIn
- Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Co.
- Timothy R. Comerford | BLS & Co.
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