2025
Comparably’s Best Company Outlook
Market
Energy Modernization
The transition toward modern and diversified energy systems is a complex global effort with wide-ranging impacts across industries and communities.
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Will Norman
Strategic Growth Director | Gulf Coast
Ross Pilotte
Strategic Growth Director | Policy
Overview
As energy systems shift to include a broader mix of technologies and low-carbon sources, organizations are rethinking how they source, use, and manage energy. These transitions are driven by global climate commitments, regulatory frameworks, and increasing pressure from investors and stakeholders to demonstrate environmental responsibility. While these shifts bring technical and permitting challenges, they also create new opportunities for innovation, resilience, and market growth.
SWCA helps clients navigate all phases of energy modernization and diversification. Whether the goal is emissions reduction, increased resource efficiency, or achieving long-term sustainability targets, our experts deliver integrated support to align projects with environmental regulations, operational realities, and strategic goals.
SWCA’s energy transition markets include:
- Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) – Assisting with site selection, Class VI permitting, monitoring, and regulatory compliance for carbon storage and reuse projects.
- Data Center Development – Providing environmental and permitting strategies to support energy-intensive facilities with an emphasis on grid integration, sustainability, and power sourcing.
- Hydrogen – Supporting project development and permitting for production, storage, and distribution infrastructure, including electrolytic and blue hydrogen pathways.
- Nuclear (including Micro and Small Modular Reactors) – Navigating regulatory and environmental reviews for next-generation nuclear technologies with a focus on safety, siting, and stakeholder engagement.
- Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) – Offering support across feedstock sourcing, interconnection, air quality compliance, and permitting to integrate RNG into broader energy systems.
Air Emissions
SWCA helps clients navigate air quality regulatory processes and develop efficient and compliant programs. We also partner with clients in reviewing and selecting Best Available Control Technology (BACT).
Our air practitioners work with clients to conduct air emissions compliance reporting and prepare greenhouse gas inventories, an important step in identifying and reducing harmful emissions. Inventories provide key information in the design of emission reduction options.
Land Services
Our experts can help locate the right land for our clients’ projects and acquire the land through face-to-face meetings and negotiations with landowners. As the projects advance, our local teams and trained conflict resolution experts can manage public outreach and stakeholder engagement campaigns.
At the beginning of a project, we utilize a proprietary siting model that can find appropriate land for any type of project from mitigation lands to renewable facilities. Our model enables us to site projects by incorporating and prioritizing more than 24 data types, creating customized land selections for unique project specifications. Our regionally placed, experienced staff have built trusting relationships with large landowners and local stakeholders in key areas. This enables us to bridge the gap between client needs and landowner, stakeholder, and community interests. We serve as an extension to our clients’ team to provide education, strategic messaging, open communication, and project transparency that benefits client objectives during development and into the permitting process.
Permitting
Our permitting specialists leverage local expertise, strong agency relationships, and a thorough understanding of regulations across all levels of government to secure timely environmental approvals. We help clients navigate complex permitting landscapes by identifying applicable requirements early, evaluating project options objectively, and developing tailored strategies that align with economic, ecological, and regulatory conditions—minimizing delays and ensuring project momentum.
Planning
SWCA’s environmental planners take a comprehensive, strategic approach to natural and cultural resource protection and regulatory compliance. We help clients define project objectives, engage communities, evaluate alternatives, and document decision-making in alignment with environmental requirements. Through collaborative stakeholder coordination and deep permitting expertise, we support clients in achieving their planning goals while balancing environmental, regulatory, and community priorities.
Routing and Siting
Routing and siting are critical elements of energy modernization projects, which often face intense scrutiny due to their scale, environmental footprint, and intersection with community, cultural, and ecological values. From renewable generation to transmission and storage infrastructure, project success depends on thoughtful alignment with both regulatory requirements and stakeholder expectations.
SWCA brings decades of experience helping clients identify optimal project locations and corridors that minimize risk, maximize feasibility, and align with energy modernization goals. We balance technical constraints, environmental sensitivities, and community considerations to support responsible project siting and streamlined permitting.
Our routing and siting services for energy modernization projects include:
- Landscape-level analysis integrating environmental, cultural, land use, and engineering data
- Identification of high-opportunity corridors and low-conflict alternatives
- Early-stage feasibility screening to inform investment and permitting strategies
- Support for environmental justice and community impact assessments
- Integration with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106, Section 7, and state-specific regulatory frameworks
Stakeholder Engagement
Effective, proactive stakeholder engagement is essential in today’s evolving regulatory and public landscape. Agencies and project proponents face heightened expectations for transparency and participation, making it critical to anticipate and address concerns early in the project lifecycle.
SWCA has decades of experience designing and implementing strategic communications and stakeholder engagement programs. Our full-service approach supports clients across all project phases, fostering trust and credibility through transparent, meaningful interactions. We help clients navigate complex issues, understand stakeholder priorities, and integrate feedback into project planning and decision making.
Our stakeholder engagement services for energy modernization projects include:
- Managing complex stakeholder relationships and engaging historically underserved or vulnerable communities
- Translating technical concepts through science-informed communication strategies
- Navigating federal and state environmental review frameworks (NEPA, ESA, NHPA, CEQA and more)
- Leveraging digital tools, such as collaborative mapping, virtual open houses, interactive meetings, and immersive 360° visualizations
- Seamless coordination with SWCA’s interdisciplinary teams to ensure a unified project approach
Meet the Experts
Strategic Growth Director | Gulf Coast
Will Norman
Will provides SWCA’s Team, public and private sector clients with senior leadership and management in the development and delivery of environmental solutions for some of our most complex infrastructure and energy projects. Highlights of Will’s experience include serving as Contract Manager and Sr. PM for 7 Restoration Plan / Environmental Assessments related to Deepwater Horizon restoration planning services and Sr. PM on our support on the Chandeleur Island Restoration Project for the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. Will also serves as our Contract and Program Manager for SWCA’s 4 state Environmental Services contract for our portfolio of work for Entergy. Since 2023, Will has served as a leader on SWCA’s team supporting our Gulf Coast Energy clients in evaluating Energy Modernization and CCUS opportunities along the Gulf Coast.
Strategic Growth Director | Policy
Ross Pilotte
Ross is a respected expert in infrastructure permitting with a decade of experience in project, program, and policy development, management, and implementation. His primary focus has been on streamlining and enhancing the transparency of permitting decisions across federal, state, tribal, and local governments while prioritizing public input and environmental resources.
Senior Environmental Planner
Sue Wilmot
Dr. Wilmot has worked in the environmental field for more than 19+ years, with a focus on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process for projects across the United States. At SWCA, she has provided project management, interdisciplinary team coordination, technical analysis, and public involvement support for a diverse range of planning projects, including overseeing permitting, fieldwork, agency consultation, and public outreach on behalf of both private and government clients. She is well versed in the NEPA process, with direct involvement and knowledge of how the NEPA process interfaces with other processes such as National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106 consultations, the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and Clean Water Act Section 404 processes. Dr. Wilmot also has educational training and professional experience in environmental, political and community sociology, social psychology, statistical analysis, and survey data collection methodologies.
Planning Director
Patty Riley
Ms. Riley has over 39+ years of experience managing projects and preparing EISs, EAs, wetland and habitat assessments, FERC environmental reports, and state/federal permit applications. She evaluates infrastructure and development projects for environmental concerns and regulatory requirements, and guides clients through the approval process. Ms. Riley provides pre-project planning and route optimization advice and facilitates project and regulatory meetings. She has hands-on experience performing field studies, habitat assessments, and endangered species surveys; conducting critical issue evaluations; delineating and monitoring tidal and non-tidal wetlands; preparing plans for the creation, enhancement, and preservation of wetland and terrestrial habitats; and evaluating alternative alignments for environmental constraints.
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