Wholesale Electricity Market Design: Rationale and Choices

The report starts with a brief overview of the evolution of competitive power markets and the current global landscape of electricity markets. It further reviews the arguments for markets, including existing evidence as well as basic preconditions for market reform. The main body of the report then walks through key market structuring and design issues, including considerations to address decarbonization objectives. Topics addressed include the promises and challenges posed by the integration of variable renewable energy and new technological solutions such as battery energy storage (BES) and distributed energy resources (DER). The report concludes with a brief characterization of key market design choices and a generic list of process steps required for market reform.