Many U.S. cities and counties are looking to expand clean energy across their communities and achieve their decarbonization goals. However, these cities don’t currently have the information they need to engage on renewables in wholesale energy markets. The lack of local government voices at the wholesale market level is a missed opportunity to remove barriers to renewable energy.

This paper presents three main avenues for local governments to get involved in wholesale energy market issues concerning renewable energy: through public statements, at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) level, and at the Regional Transmission Organization (RTO)/Independent System Operator (ISO) level. In many cases, working collaboratively can help local governments overcome barriers like limited capacity, expertise or funding.

This working paper provides local governments (such as cities and counties) with education on why and how they may want to engage in issues at the wholesale energy market level, and examples of how other similar stakeholders are already working in this area.