SUMMARY REPORT: ECONOMIC AND CLEAN ENERGY BENEFITS OF ESTABLISHING A SOUTHEAST U.S. COMPETITIVE WHOLESALE ELECTRICITY MARKET

The report finds that transitioning from the current vertically-integrated monopoly structure to a competitive RTO in the Southeast would generate approximately $384 billion in cumulative savings by 2040. This shift would lower retail electricity costs by 29% and reduce carbon emissions by 37% relative to 2018 levels. The analysis highlights that competition accelerates the deployment of wind, solar, and battery storage, creating a net increase of 285,000 jobs compared to the business-as-usual scenario. The study contrasts this with the current Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) approach, which it characterizes as inefficient due to excessive reserve margins and a reliance on uneconomic coal generation.

• Establishing a competitive Southeastern RTO would result in cumulative economic savings of roughly $384 billion by 2040 compared to the business-as-usual (BAU) case. By 2040, retail costs would be approximately 2.5¢ per kilowatt-hour (kWh) lower, representing a 29 percent reduction compared to BAU.
• The RTO scenario would significantly reduce carbon emissions, falling approximately 37 percent relative to 2018 levels and 46 percent compared to the IRP Scenario by 2040. Major air pollutants such as NOX, SO2, and PM2.5 would drop to near-zero due to the phase-out of coal generation.
• Market competition would drive a net increase of 285,000 jobs by 2040 relative to the BAU scenario. This growth is driven by the construction of 62 GW of solar, 41 GW of onshore wind, and 46 GW of battery storage.
• The current IRP-based planning is inefficient, leading to a combined planning reserve margin (PRM) of 48 percent by 2040, far exceeding the North American Electric Reliability Corporation's reference standard of 15 percent. In contrast, the RTO scenario meets a 16 percent PRM in 2040.
• A sensitivity analysis shows that maintaining the existing nuclear fleet through 2040 (RTO with Nuclear Scenario) would further reduce carbon emissions to 41 percent below 2018 levels, with only a minor 0.5 percent increase in overall system costs compared to the standard RTO scenario.
• A partial step toward competition, the Economic IRP Scenario, would achieve about three-quarters of the RTO's cost savings (approximately $298 billion by 2040) but would be less effective at reducing emissions, with carbon dioxide dropping only 13 percent below 2018 levels.

APA

Gimon, E., O’Boyle, M., McNair, T., Clack, C. T. M., Choukulkar, A., Cote, B., & McKee, S. (2020). SUMMARY REPORT: ECONOMIC AND CLEAN ENERGY BENEFITS OF ESTABLISHING A SOUTHEAST U.S. COMPETITIVE WHOLESALE ELECTRICITY MARKET. Energy Innovation. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Economic-And-Clean-Energy-Benefits-Of-Establishing-A-Southeast-U.S.-Competitive-Wholesale-Electricity-Market_FINAL.pdf

Chicago

Gimon, Eric, Mike O’Boyle, Taylor McNair, Christopher T M Clack, Aditya Choukulkar, Brianna Cote, and Sarah McKee. SUMMARY REPORT: ECONOMIC AND CLEAN ENERGY BENEFITS OF ESTABLISHING A SOUTHEAST U.S. COMPETITIVE WHOLESALE ELECTRICITY MARKET. Energy Innovation, 2020. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Economic-And-Clean-Energy-Benefits-Of-Establishing-A-Southeast-U.S.-Competitive-Wholesale-Electricity-Market_FINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Gimon |first1=Eric |last2=O’Boyle |first2=Mike |last3=McNair |first3=Taylor |last4=Clack |first4=Christopher T M |last5=Choukulkar |first5=Aditya |last6=Cote |first6=Brianna |last7=McKee |first7=Sarah |title=SUMMARY REPORT: ECONOMIC AND CLEAN ENERGY BENEFITS OF ESTABLISHING A SOUTHEAST U.S. COMPETITIVE WHOLESALE ELECTRICITY MARKET |publisher=Energy Innovation |date=August 2020 |url=https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Economic-And-Clean-Energy-Benefits-Of-Establishing-A-Southeast-U.S.-Competitive-Wholesale-Electricity-Market_FINAL.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gimon2020summary, 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 = {{SUMMARY REPORT: ECONOMIC AND CLEAN ENERGY BENEFITS OF ESTABLISHING A SOUTHEAST U.S. COMPETITIVE WHOLESALE ELECTRICITY MARKET}}, institution = {Energy Innovation}, year = {2020}, month = aug, url = {https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Economic-And-Clean-Energy-Benefits-Of-Establishing-A-Southeast-U.S.-Competitive-Wholesale-Electricity-Market_FINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }