New perspectives on energy market design: towards a flexible and sustainable user-based model

The Colombian electricity market is at a turning point, transitioning from a traditional centralized system to a dynamic, decentralized, and user-centric model. This article presents a renewed vision of market design in which the end user evolves from a passive consumer to an active “prosumer”, empowered to generate, store, and trade energy. We outline seven fundamental pillars of a user-centered market design – including demand response, distributed resources, peer-to-peer exchange, digitalization through AI and smart grids, and integrative regulatory frameworks – and propose a framework for incorporating these elements. Key technological enablers (such as smart metering, energy management platforms, and AI analytics) and regulatory adaptations (for dynamic pricing, market integration,…