#1 Fix the energy market

Re-architect how energy is priced, procured, and coordinated across the grid.

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Candidate solutions

Compare competing approaches to fixing the energy market against the same design decisions. Each architecture can then be explored, critiqued and developed in detail.

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Candidate solutions

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Each row is a design decision. Each column shows how a candidate architecture currently positions itself. Rows highlighted in amber are where candidates currently diverge.

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Design decision	Great Britain — Reformed National MarketView solution →	Zonal Marginal PricingView solution →	PJM-style Locational Marginal PricingView solution →	Australian NEM + Dynamic Network AccessView solution →	Fair Play Automatic Market Maker (FP-AMM)View solution →
Prices and productsDiffers Wholesale price geography	National HIGH confidence The principal wholesale market operates with a GB wide reference price rather than nodal or zonal wholesale settlement.	Zonal or regional HIGH confidence Participants face a common wholesale price within each bidding zone.	Nodal HIGH confidence Wholesale prices vary by transmission location.	Zonal or regional HIGH confidence Wholesale settlement uses regional reference prices.	Network-hierarchical HIGH confidence FP AMM does not assume one fixed national, zonal or nodal geography. Prices can emerge recursively at the relevant network layer.
Market timingDiffers Market-clearing frequency	Periodic batch clearing MEDIUM confidenceUnresolved Important wholesale markets clear in scheduled batches, while intraday trading continues between auctions and the Balancing… Show full rationaleHide full rationale Important wholesale markets clear in scheduled batches, while intraday trading continues between auctions and the Balancing Mechanism operates close to delivery. The architecture therefore contains multiple timescales.	Periodic batch clearing HIGH confidence Day ahead zonal market coupling is performed through scheduled batch clearing, with additional intraday and balancing processes.	Rolling interval clearing MEDIUM confidence The architecture combines scheduled day ahead clearing with repeated short interval real time optimisation.	Rolling interval clearing HIGH confidence AEMO performs repeated five minute dispatch and pricing.	Continuous sequential clearing HIGH confidence The mechanism continuously updates allocations and prices as requests and physical conditions change rather than waiting for a… Show full rationaleHide full rationale The mechanism continuously updates allocations and prices as requests and physical conditions change rather than waiting for a scheduled batch-clearing interval.
Architecture and controlDiffers Coordination topology	Centralised HIGH confidence System balancing and transmission security coordination are principally performed by a central system operator.	Centralised HIGH confidence Market coupling and transmission system operation rely on centrally coordinated optimisation and capacity calculation.	Centralised HIGH confidence PJM centrally coordinates transmission system dispatch and wholesale market clearing.	Centralised HIGH confidence Bulk system dispatch is centrally coordinated by AEMO.	Holarchical HIGH confidence Coordination is recursive across nested physical layers rather than being performed by one single central optimisation over the… Show full rationaleHide full rationale Coordination is recursive across nested physical layers rather than being performed by one single central optimisation over the entire system.
Network and physicsDiffers Congestion management	Redispatch outside the main energy price HIGH confidence Transmission constraints that are not represented in the national wholesale price are addressed through balancing, redispatch and… Show full rationaleHide full rationale Transmission constraints that are not represented in the national wholesale price are addressed through balancing, redispatch and constraint-management actions.	Zonal separation + residual redispatch HIGH confidence Inter zonal congestion can separate zonal prices while residual intra zonal congestion is managed through redispatch and other… Show full rationaleHide full rationale Inter-zonal congestion can separate zonal prices while residual intra-zonal congestion is managed through redispatch and other TSO actions.	Congestion embedded in nodal dispatch and prices HIGH confidence Binding transmission constraints affect optimal dispatch and the congestion component of nodal LMPs.	Central constrained dispatch + regional settlement HIGH confidence Transmission constraints affect central dispatch while wholesale settlement remains based on regional reference prices.	Network-hierarchical coordination HIGH confidence Congestion changes the locally relevant scarcity state and therefore the price/allocation signal at the constrained layer.
Reliability and scarcityDiffers Scarcity allocation	Optimisation-based allocation MEDIUM confidence Operational scarcity is managed through market bids, offers and central system operation decisions subject to security… Show full rationaleHide full rationale Operational scarcity is managed through market bids, offers and central system-operation decisions subject to security requirements.	Optimisation-based allocation HIGH confidence Market coupling determines a welfare maximising feasible allocation from submitted bids subject to cross zonal capacity.	Optimisation-based allocation HIGH confidence A security constrained optimisation selects the economically preferred feasible dispatch.	Optimisation-based allocation HIGH confidence Central dispatch determines feasible allocation from bids and offers subject to system constraints.	Fairness-aware allocation HIGH confidence When scarce capacity cannot satisfy all requests, allocation uses persistent fairness state rather than relying only on… Show full rationaleHide full rationale When scarce capacity cannot satisfy all requests, allocation uses persistent fairness state rather than relying only on contemporaneous willingness to pay or a memoryless optimisation.
InvestmentDiffers Non-fuel cost recovery	Energy-price rentsCapacity paymentsLong-term contracts HIGH confidence Generator fixed costs can be recovered through energy market margins, Capacity Market revenues and long term support contracts… Show full rationaleHide full rationale Generator fixed costs can be recovered through energy-market margins, Capacity Market revenues and long-term support contracts such as Contracts for Difference.	Energy-price rentsLong-term contracts MEDIUM confidenceUnresolved Fixed cost recovery varies by jurisdiction and can combine energy market revenues with long term contracts, support schemes or… Show full rationaleHide full rationale Fixed-cost recovery varies by jurisdiction and can combine energy-market revenues with long-term contracts, support schemes or capacity mechanisms.	Energy-price rentsCapacity payments HIGH confidence Resources can recover costs through energy and ancillary service revenues together with PJM's separate capacity market revenues.	Energy-price rentsLong-term contracts HIGH confidence Investment returns combine spot market revenues with financial contracts and increasingly long term underwriting arrangements.	System-value payments HIGH confidence Non fuel fixed costs are separated from the short run operational energy signal and recovered according to contribution to system… Show full rationaleHide full rationale Non-fuel fixed costs are separated from the short-run operational energy signal and recovered according to contribution to system value, including the proposed Shapley-based settlement layer.

Comparator positions are read directly from each candidate's recorded design positions.