NESCOE, a not-for-profit entity that represents the collective perspective of the six New England Governors in regional electricity matters, issued an October 2020 memorandum calling for reform of the regional electricity market that serves their states in order to advance clean energy. Their statement reads:
The existing market structure is not fully compatible with certain state laws and mandates regarding resource adequacy and actions taken (e.g., longterm contracts) in pursuit of energy- and climate-related legal requirements. As a result, New England’s wholesale markets fail to sufficiently value the legally-required clean energy investments made by the ratepayers they serve …. [Capacity markets’] existing design largely
prevents state-level investments in clean energy resources – developed pursuant to state laws – from being fully accounted, thereby creating risk that local ratepayers have to pay twice for the same level of resource adequacy, while simultaneously impeding those states’ legal requirements
to decarbonize.
The Governors call for a new, regional market framework that accomplishes the following goals:
1. Meet States’ decarbonization mandates and maintain resource adequacy at the lowest cost by using market-based mechanisms;
2. Establish effective mechanisms that accommodate existing and future long-term contracts for clean energy resources executed pursuant to state law;
3. Integrate distribution-level resources effectively and efficiently;
4. Allow interested buyers and sellers to participate; and
5. Provide for an appropriate level of state involvement in market design and implementation.