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The US electricity grid is rapidly evolving with the entry of low-cost renewable electricity. As a result, new supply is not spatially matched to demand, and the transmission network has become more strained. Better market integration could thus lower US generation costs. We document that eliminating interregional constraints would have reduced electricity generation costs across the lower US 48 states by $5.8 to 7.1 billion in 2022 and $3.4 to 5.0 billion in 2023. But market integration creates winners and losers among generation companies, and we show that producers in some regions have incentives to delay or block grid integration despite the overall system benefits.The session will be conducted as a seminar-style discussion, with the papers circulated in advance to facilitate engagement.

Catie Hausman is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. She is an environmental and energy economist. Some of her recent areas of research include electricity transmission policy; the natural gas sector's role in methane leaks; the economic damages from climate change; and inequality in pollution exposure.