A tale of two markets: How the US electric power sector is diverging

Here is an interesting McKinsey article from last month about the two types of electricity markets - cost driven and policy driven - that are emerging in US electricity markets. The former label refers to states which have not set explicit or limited targets for carbon reduction and the latter label is for states that have aggressive zero-carbon targets for their economies.

Some of the conclusions are fairly predictable: power demand will grow twice as fast in policy driven markets as compared to cost driven markets due to increased electrification. Others are interesting: short-term battery storage will become a popular option in California while New York will opt for a balance between long term battery storage and wind. "Electric utilities could see a range of outcomes - from limited disruption in the cost-driven markets to a rapid increase in electrification and growth of centralized and distributed renewables in policy-driven markets, along with a host of modernizing and capacity-increasing investments in the electric grid to accommodate these changes," the authors write.