State-Led Planning, Development, and Procurement

A key lever for states in deregulated power markets to achieve long-term electricity policy targets

Cutting power sector carbon emissions quickly and affordably requires the addition of long-lead-time technologies that are prone to development barriers, such as nuclear energy, geothermal, and long-duration energy storage. While market prices and clean electricity standards have done much to advance clean power deployment in deregulated electricity markets, they do not provide sufficient incentives to support projects with longer development timelines and do not clear the non-cost hurdles that stall projects’ development. State-led planning and procurement offers an effective policy option for states to an overcome these barriers.

This report identifies how establishing state-led planning and procurement can help state governments in deregulated electricity markets meet their power sector decarbonization goals and lays out the components needed to put that planning in action.