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The report identifies a 'planning gap' in deregulated U.S. power markets where short-term wholesale price signals and Clean Electricity Standards (CES) fail to incentivize long-lead time, capital-intensive technologies like nuclear, geothermal, and long-duration energy storage. To address this, the authors propose a 'hybrid market' approach called state-led planning, which consists of three core components: system needs assessments, technology development roadmaps, and state-led procurement. This framework allows states to provide the long-term revenue certainty required by investors while maintaining the operational efficiencies of competitive wholesale markets. The report highlights Illinois's Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act as a primary example of this approach in practice and discusses the role of FERC Order 1920 in improving regional transmission planning.

Over 100 companies, representing more than $1.5 trillion USD in annual revenue, call for governments to accelerate the transition to clean electrification. They argue that reliance on volatile fuel markets undermines competitiveness and that electrifying transport, buildings, and industry is a cost-effective way to strengthen energy security. The statement urges international cooperation through bodies like the G7 and G20, and national policies focused on affordability, electricity market design, grid modernization, and clear electrification timelines.

A statement from the We Mean Business Coalition urging governments to establish electrification as a central economic strategy to mitigate the risks of volatile fuel markets and strengthen energy security.

Turkey's coal-fired power generation reached 121 TWh in 2025, with imported coal accounting for approximately two-thirds of production due to higher capacity factors. While no new plants have been commissioned since 2022, a purchase guarantee for domestic coal plants announced in September 2025—offering 75 USD/MWh from 2026 to 2029—is expected to increase capacity utilization and potentially push coal generation to new records before a decline after 2030.

The report examines various global regulatory models for electricity revenue determination, including rate-of-return, incentive-based, performance-based, and market-based pricing. It details the technical process of Cost of Supply (CoS) studies—comprising functionalisation, classification, and allocation—and discusses the trade-offs between fixed and variable tariff charges. The document concludes that South Africa should move toward unbundled, cost-reflective tariffs supported by regular, audited CoS studies and a more robust, incentive-driven revenue determination methodology to support its transition to a wholesale market.

The paper introduces a residual demand hypersurface to better measure market power in locational pricing markets, specifically by analyzing how output changes at one location impact prices across all locations. This model is applied to the Italian electricity market to explain supplier bidding behavior and the effects of generation capacity divestment.

Merchant BESS in India became financially viable in 2024 due to falling battery costs and increasing price volatility in the Day Ahead Market (DAM). The report finds that BESS can achieve internal rates of return (IRR) up to 24% by combining energy arbitrage with ancillary services, with shorter-duration systems (1-2 hours) currently offering better returns than 4-hour systems.

Thermal batteries store renewable electricity as high-temperature heat in abundant materials like graphite or bricks, providing a cost-effective alternative to fossil fuels for industrial processes requiring temperatures over 1,000°C. The technology supports grid stability by reducing renewable curtailment and offers a lower-risk alternative to hydrogen for industrial decarbonization. While facing challenges in wholesale electricity market access and infrastructure integration, the sector saw investment spike to over $350 million in 2024.

The document analyzes the current state of electricity markets in India, noting that while power exchanges (PX) are growing, they only account for 7% of total demand. It identifies key barriers to market adoption, including the dominance of inflexible long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs), unpredictable market clearing prices, and inaccurate supply-demand forecasting. The paper highlights that states like Gujarat and Tamil Nadu could achieve significant fuel cost savings by shifting from PPAs to day-ahead markets (DAMs). It recommends redesigning PPA structures, introducing contracts for differences (CFDs), strengthening institutional market monitoring, and developing state-level resource adequacy frameworks to better integrate variable renewable energy.

The document argues that market innovation is critical for the energy transition, as evolving market parameters help systems accommodate higher levels of variable and distributed energy resources while maintaining reliability and affordability. It notes that maturing markets are currently improving the economics of renewables and putting pressure on coal economics. The guide provides global trends, case studies, and analysis of how market structures can advance seven key outcomes for global energy transformation.

The document argues that current US electricity market designs—including energy-only, capacity, and hybrid models—fail to support the rapid deployment of variable renewable energy (VRE) because they lack a functional 'energy markets cascade' that connects long-term investment to real-time pricing. To resolve this, the author proposes Organized Long-Term Markets (OLTMs), which would standardize long-term energy delivery contracts, increase liquidity and transparency, and allow for the optimization of diversified resource portfolios. The paper details the design of OLTMs, including the roles of producers, consumers, and facilitators, and applies the concept to the specific challenges faced by ERCOT, CAISO, and ISO New England.

The report finds that gas-fired power plants in MISO and SPP frequently operate at a loss, costing ratepayers an estimated $117 million in 2019. This uneconomic generation is most prevalent in steam turbines and gas turbines, often driven by practices like self-scheduling and self-commitment. The authors argue that these inefficiencies, combined with rising fuel costs and the growth of renewables, make gas-fired power an increasingly risky and expensive investment compared to clean energy portfolios.

The Green Aggregation Tech Enterprise (GATE) is a risk-pooling mechanism that guarantees a baseline level of revenue for rural mini grid developers, addressing the lack of credit histories among rural customers. By diversifying risks across different geographies and customers, GATE aims to enable developers to meet debt obligations and crowd in commercial debt. The instrument requires strong implementing partners, support from Development Finance Institutions for initial capital, and a robust regional electricity market, specifically leveraging the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP). The initiative is currently preparing for launch in southern Africa, starting with Zambia, and aligns with the Zambian National Energy Policy 2019.

RMI's study evaluates hourly carbon-free energy procurement strategies across seven global markets, finding that while hourly load-matching supports long-term grid decarbonization, strategies must be tailored to regional grid dynamics to maximize immediate emissions reductions.

The text asserts that because electricity generation is a primary source of greenhouse gas emissions, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) should use its authority as an economic regulator to address the CO2 externality. It argues that carbon pricing is not merely an environmental issue but a core market concern necessary for a functional and efficient interstate transmission and wholesale electricity market.

The policy brief outlines a pathway for the U.S. to reach 90 percent zero carbon electricity by 2035, leveraging falling costs of solar, wind, and batteries. It asserts that this transition could support $1.7 trillion in investment and 530,000 annual energy jobs without increasing customer bills. However, it warns that without policy intervention, zero carbon sources would only reach 53 percent by 2035. The authors propose specific regulatory actions for FERC and RTO/ISOs, including simplifying interconnection rules, reforming transmission cost allocation, enhancing energy price signals, and reducing reliance on capacity markets.

The policy brief argues that the U.S. can achieve 90 percent zero-carbon electricity by 2035 through a federal clean energy standard and complementary reforms in tax credits, manufacturing, transmission planning, and wholesale market design. This transition would require significant scaling of solar, wind, and battery storage, while retiring the coal fleet and utilizing existing gas plants only for flexibility. The authors emphasize the need for a 'just transition' for coal-dependent communities and the modernization of utility regulation through performance-based models and all-source procurement to ensure the transition is affordable and equitable.

The report argues that rate-regulated utilities use 'self-commitment' to bypass market merit order, running coal plants that are objectively uneconomic and passing the resulting losses to captive customers through state fuel-cost-recovery processes. Using PLEXOS modeling for the MISO region in 2018, the authors find that this practice cost customers $350 million and suppressed regional market clearing prices by 2.4%. The report identifies Cleco and DTE Energy as significant contributors to these distortions and recommends that state regulators disallow the recovery of imprudent, above-market costs to incentivize efficient dispatch.

The report argues that carbon pricing in wholesale electricity markets can reduce CO2 emissions at the lowest cost and improve economic efficiency. It focuses on the role of Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) in pricing emissions directly within energy market operations and outlines the legal and economic frameworks necessary for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, states, and RTOs to implement such rules.

California has established a target of 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2045 and increased its renewable energy requirement to 60 percent by 2030. To reach these goals, the Union of Concerned Scientists proposes ten strategies: improving energy efficiency (especially during evening hours), diversifying renewable sources (wind, solar, geothermal, and low-carbon bioenergy), phasing out natural gas equitably, using renewables for grid reliability services, investing in multi-timescale energy storage, integrating western electricity markets, leveraging distributed energy resources, electrifying buildings and transport, shifting demand to match production, and developing a skilled workforce.