Stakeholders seeking to better understand energy systems in the Southeast can now survey the competitive landscape of the region’s power sector with a new resource developed by Duke University experts.
Ready to Dive In?
The Nicholas Institute experts who developed the dashboard introduced to the resource’s interactive features and information during a webinar on Dec. 11.
The Southeast Power Sector Competitiveness Dashboard assembles key metrics on an array of policies and market characteristics that influence how utilities, regulators, producers and consumers interact. Launched today by Duke’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability, the dashboard covers 12 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
"The Southeast Power Sector Competitiveness Dashboard enables layered insight into where Southeastern states align and differ on issues of choice, control and collaboration in the power sector,” said Trey Gowdy, research lead for energy and climate policy at the Nicholas Institute. “The dashboard shows that competitiveness varies widely across the region."
State policies, regulatory structures and market arrangements create conditions that can support or hinder consumer or community choice, broader electricity generation, multi-actor market participation, investment decision-making and the sharing of regional resources. The dashboard aggregates data and analysis from across these and other areas to provide a single coherent resource for policymakers, industry practitioners across the energy value chain, researchers, market analysts and civil society organizations.
The dashboard scores each state on 15 competitiveness indicators divided into three categories:
- Consumer: Policies and programs giving individuals or large energy users choices in electricity usage, providers or rates.
- Structure: Laws, utility structures and regulations shaping large-scale energy market operations.
- Market: State participation in multi-state markets and transmission organizations managing large-scale electricity dispatch.
Overall, Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky rank as the states with the highest scores for power sector competitiveness. On the other end of the spectrum, Alabama scores the lowest in competitiveness, then Tennessee and Georgia. States received between 22% and 60% of all available points, highlighting the potential for improvement in competitiveness for even the leading states.
Beyond the top-line rankings, the tool offers users a deeper look at state-level scores and policies and the ability to compare indicators across states. For example, while Georgia’s total score falls near the bottom of the region, the state takes the top spot for its consumer-facing policies. Meanwhile, Kentucky leads the dashboard’s structure category, and Louisiana places first in the market category.
“The Southeast Power Sector Competitiveness Dashboard brings together indicators typically dispersed across many sources with several new metrics developed for this project into one accessible, comparative platform,” said Eric Parajon, Nicholas Institute policy analyst. “Users can easily assess how Southeastern states structure their power sectors and what these differences mean for consumers, regulators and utilities. By moving beyond the conventional ‘regional market or not’ distinction, the dashboard reveals a richer continuum of state competitiveness, highlighting where each state excels and where it falls short.”
In addition to the metrics, the dashboard features a policy simulator that enables users to test “what-if” scenarios and see how specific policy changes would shift a state’s competitiveness score. Additional data and information include:
- Detailed descriptions of competitiveness policies by state
- Five largest utilities by market share in each state
- Consumer and environmental conditions data by state, such as average electricity bill, electricity generation mix and power outage data
- Overview of integrated resource planning timelines by state
The Southeast Power Sector Competitiveness Dashboard is led by the Nicholas Institute, building on previous work that explored the concept of power sector competition as a continuum. The project is supported by the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and is produced in concert with complementary work being led by the World Resources Institute.
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For media inquiries, contact the Nicholas Institute communications team at ni-comm@duke.edu.
