Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability has launched a new interactive resource designed to help stakeholders compare the competitiveness of the power sector across the Southeast, offering a state-by-state view of policies and market features that shape how utilities, regulators, producers, and consumers interact.
Called the Southeast Power Sector Competitiveness Dashboard, the tool compiles key metrics tied to the region’s electricity policy environment and market design. It covers Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, aiming to provide policymakers, industry participants across the energy value chain, researchers, market analysts, and civil society organizations with a single place to evaluate differences that are often spread across multiple sources.
The dashboard assigns each state a score based on 15 competitiveness indicators grouped into three areas: consumer-oriented policies and programs that affect choices in electricity usage, providers, or rates; structural factors such as laws, utility structures, and regulations that influence large-scale market operations; and market participation in multi-state markets and transmission organizations that manage large-scale dispatch.
In the 2025 view, Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky rank highest overall, while Alabama ranks lowest, followed by Tennessee and Georgia. The Nicholas Institute said states received between 22% and 60% of all available points, suggesting that even higher-scoring states have room to improve.
The tool is built to go beyond overall rankings by letting users drill into category performance and compare indicators across states. The Nicholas Institute noted that Georgia, despite ranking near the bottom overall, leads in consumer-facing policies. Kentucky leads the structure category, and Louisiana ranks highest in the market category.
Alongside the core scoring system, the dashboard includes a policy simulator that allows users to test hypothetical changes and see how specific policy moves could affect a state’s competitiveness score. The platform also provides additional context, including state-specific descriptions of competitiveness-related policies, the five largest utilities by market share in each state, consumer and environmental conditions such as average electricity bills, generation mix, and outage data, and an overview of integrated resource planning timelines by state.
The Nicholas Institute leads the project and builds on earlier work framing power sector competition as a continuum rather than a binary distinction. It is supported by the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and is produced in concert with complementary work led by the World Resources Institute. The Nicholas Institute team also introduced the dashboard’s interactive features and information during a webinar on Dec. 11.
KEY QUOTES:
“The Southeast Power Sector Competitiveness Dashboard enables layered insight into where Southeastern states align and differ on issues of choice, control and collaboration in the power sector,” said Trey Gowdy, research lead for energy and climate policy at the Nicholas Institute. “The dashboard shows that competitiveness varies widely across the region.”
Trey Gowdy, Research Lead For Energy And Climate Policy, Nicholas Institute
“The Southeast Power Sector Competitiveness Dashboard brings together indicators typically dispersed across many sources with several new metrics developed for this project into one accessible, comparative platform,” said Eric Parajon, Nicholas Institute policy analyst. “Users can easily assess how Southeastern states structure their power sectors and what these differences mean for consumers, regulators and utilities. By moving beyond the conventional ‘regional market or not’ distinction, the dashboard reveals a richer continuum of state competitiveness, highlighting where each state excels and where it falls short.”
Eric Parajon, Policy Analyst, Nicholas Institute
