POLICIES TO SUPPORT A COMPETITIVE WHOLESALE ELECTRICITY MARKET IN THE SOUTHEAST U.S.

This report argues that establishing a Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) in the Southeast U.S. could reduce electricity costs by 29% and emissions by 37% by 2040. It recommends a combination of full market restructuring, the adoption of all-source procurement, and the integration of distributed energy resources to achieve these goals. The authors also emphasize the need for 'just transition' policies to support coal-impacted communities by leveraging the fact that most coal plants have cheaper renewable alternatives within 35 miles.

• Implementing a Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) in the Southeast U.S. could lead to significant economic and environmental gains by 2040, including a 29 percent reduction in electricity costs and a 37 percent reduction in emissions compared to 2018 levels. This transition would support the addition of nearly 130 GW of clean energy projects, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
• Incremental steps toward full market restructuring, such as Energy Imbalance Markets (EIM) or power pools, can provide immediate benefits. For example, the Western EIM has generated over $1 billion in gross economic benefits and avoided more than 533,000 metric tons of CO2. However, the report notes that 10-20 percent of RTO scenario benefits specifically derive from a regional approach rather than siloed competitive procurement.
• Optimizing distributed energy resources (DER), specifically community-scale solar and storage located below the substation, could reduce peak demand by 12 percent. This would lower bulk system capacity and distribution investment needs. The report suggests that approximately 10 percent of the RTO Scenario's 2040 cost savings are attributed to the optimization of these resources.
• Adopting 'all-source procurement'—a technology-neutral process for acquiring new generation—can capture a significant portion of the benefits of competition. Modeling indicates that improving single-utility planning and procurement through these practices can achieve about three-quarters of the cost benefits and one-third of the emissions benefits associated with full competition.
• To ensure a low-carbon electricity system at the lowest cost, any Southeast RTO should follow specific design principles, including eliminating barriers to zero-carbon resource participation, promoting short-run efficiency via optimized dispatch, and minimizing market power and manipulation.
• The transition from coal to clean energy can be managed by investing in clean electricity resources and infrastructure in impacted communities. Analysis shows nearly all coal-fired power plants have cheaper solar or wind resources within 35 miles, which could provide local tax and employment benefits while minimizing new transmission needs.

APA

GIMON, E., O’BOYLE, M., MCNAIR, T., CLACK, C. T. M., CHOUKULKAR, A., COTE, B., & MCKEE, S. (2020). POLICIES TO SUPPORT A COMPETITIVE WHOLESALE ELECTRICITY MARKET IN THE SOUTHEAST U.S. Energy Innovation. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Policies-To-Support-A-Competitive-Wholesale-Electricity-Market-In-The-Southeast-US.pdf

Chicago

GIMON, ERIC, MIKE O’BOYLE, TAYLOR MCNAIR, CHRISTOPHER T M CLACK, ADITYA CHOUKULKAR, BRIANNA COTE, and SARAH MCKEE. POLICIES TO SUPPORT A COMPETITIVE WHOLESALE ELECTRICITY MARKET IN THE SOUTHEAST U.S. Energy Innovation, 2020. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Policies-To-Support-A-Competitive-Wholesale-Electricity-Market-In-The-Southeast-US.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{gimon2020policies, author = {GIMON, ERIC and O’BOYLE, MIKE and MCNAIR, TAYLOR and CLACK, CHRISTOPHER T M and CHOUKULKAR, ADITYA and COTE, BRIANNA and MCKEE, SARAH}, title = {{POLICIES TO SUPPORT A COMPETITIVE WHOLESALE ELECTRICITY MARKET IN THE SOUTHEAST U.S.}}, institution = {Energy Innovation}, year = {2020}, month = aug, url = {https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Policies-To-Support-A-Competitive-Wholesale-Electricity-Market-In-The-Southeast-US.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }