Renewable Energy Buyers Outline Organized Wholesale Market Design Principles to Achieve a Zero-Carbon Energy Future

Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance, leading convenor of large energy buyers, sets ambitious wholesale market priorities to accelerate zero-carbon energy future

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA), the leading convenor of the world’s largest energy buyers, released today its Buyers’ Principles on Wholesale Market Design in support of instituting and improving organized wholesale markets in all regions of the country. The Principles highlight critical design components necessary to reduce energy costs for all customers, improve reliability of the power grid, drive innovation, and provide energy customers more options to meet ambitious clean energy goals.

“REBA’s vision is that every organization has a viable, expedient, and cost-effective pathway to renewable energy,” said Miranda Ballentine, CEO, REBA. “Large energy buyers have coalesced to use their collective voice to accelerate decarbonization of the power sector and create significant cost, societal, and economic benefits for all energy customers.”

Well implemented and designed organized wholesale markets focused on meeting customer needs follow 10 principles, under three themes:

1. Unlock wholesale market competition to catalyze clean energy by ensuring a level playing field, large energy buyer participation, and services that provide actual value for energy customers.
2. Safeguard market integrity through independent and responsive governance structures, transparency, and broad stakeholder engagement and representation.
3. Design to scale to the future by ensuring operational scale, customer-oriented options to meet decarbonization goals, alignment with federal and state public policy, and predictable investment decisions.

Energy buyers from across the commercial and industrial sector are setting increasingly ambitious energy goals to power their facilities and operations with zero carbon energy. REBA’s membership alone represents more than 200 companies with a market cap of $3.8 trillion in revenue demanding access to renewable energy.

“Wholesale markets support GM's overall commitment to protecting the environment by providing a platform that hastens the deployment and procurement of cost-effective clean energy as we pursue our vision of an all-electric, zero-emissions future,” says Rob Threlkeld, Global Manager of Sustainable Energy, Supply & Reliability at General Motors, and Vice Chair of REBA’s Board of Directors. “We are committed to using our scale and resources to grow clean energy demand and availability in support of our accelerated renewable energy commitment to power 100 percent of our U.S. facilities with renewables by 2030 and global facilities by 2040. The Buyers Wholesale Market Design Principles showcase how to optimize energy markets so that all customers can effectively pursue ambitious clean energy goals that improve air quality and address climate change.”

The Principles represent the powerful voice of some of the nation’s largest energy customers and employers unifying their collective call for smart wholesale market design and expansion as one of the most important courses of action to achieve a zero-carbon energy system faster and affordably.

To view the full outline of Organized Wholesale Market Principles, visit rebuyers.org.