This report from Energy Innovation and Vibrant Clean Energy details the impacts of enhancing competition for wholesale electricity transactions through a theoretical organized market in the Southeast region. We use a combined production-cost and capacity-expansion model of the electric power system in seven Southeastern states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee) out to 2040.

We find that a competitive Southeastern RTO creates cumulative economic savings of approximately $384 billion by 2040 compared to the business-as-usual (BAU) case. In 2040, this amounts to average savings of approximately 2.5¢ per kilowatt-hour (kWh), or 29 percent in retail costs compared to today. In the RTO Scenario, carbon emissions fall approximately 37 percent relative to 2018 levels, and 46 percent compared to the IRP Scenario, in which emissions increase. Other major criteria pollutants impacting human health, such as NOX, SO2, and PM2.5, drop dramatically, largely as a result of eliminated coal generation. Emissions gains are driven by a vast deployment of renewable energy resources replacing coal.