Designing EAC Markets for the Energy Transition: Navigating Between Voluntary Incentives and Regulatory Signals

Decarbonizing the power sector is essential for achieving global climate targets, as it accounts for nearly half of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Although clean energy deployment continues to grow, it remains insufficient to meet global demand for electricity. To accelerate renewable energy development, a variety of policy instruments have been implemented, including regulatory mandates (e.g., renewable portfolio standards (RPS)), financial incentives, and market-based tools such as energy attribute certificates (EACs). EACs are now used across more than 30 systems, including national frameworks like GOs in the EU,