5+ Industries
We bring experience in electricity, communications, finance, insurance, online advertising, and many other industries. We combine industry-specific knowledge with a broad perspective and experience.
Forward Market Design, founded by economist Peter Cramton, combines economics and computer science to design markets and help participants achieve their goals.
Our philosophy
We are a research and consulting group with decades of experience designing, implementing, and participating in some of the world’s most complex markets. We have advised electrical grid operators on market design, helped spectrum buyers and sellers navigate some of the most complex spectrum auctions in the world, designed markets for finance and commodities trading, and helped numerous market participants and operators across many other domains.
We bridge the gap between academic rigor and practical application to deliver real outcomes for clients. We firmly believe that everyone benefits when operators use the best market designs and participants are empowered—we draw on our deep experience to help operators develop markets that will deliver on their goals and to help participants achieve optimal results. We also take independent initiative where we believe in a sea change opportunity, advocating in the public square for market innovations that will improve society for decades to come.
85+ Clients
Our team has worked for clients large and small from more than 30 countries.
20k+ Citations
FMD was founded by Peter Cramton — one of the leading academic experts in auctions and market design.
Applications
The forward energy market
Forward markets project the future and motivate participants to make it better. A robust forward market for electricity will enable and motivate developers to respond to today’s rapidly changing demand.
Spectrum auctions
We have decades of experience designing spectrum auctions and advising bidders.
Our work with regulators is focused on designing practical auction that balance many goals. For example, efficiency, competition, and revenues.
Our work with bidders is focused on decision-making, we help bidders prepare for any situation that may arise in a competitive auction.
Grid interconnection
Entry friction is undermining our electricity markets. We develop a price-first approach that eliminates the iterative processes that are constraining the market.
Satellite spectrum management
Satellites are the next frontier in spectrum allocation. As satellites proliferate, pricing interference correctly is critical to ensuring spectrum can be effectively utilized.
California energy slice-of-day management
Granular capacity assessment is critical for ensuring resource adequacy in California’s power grid, but it is challenging for participants to manage. We build tools that can help CCAs and JPAs efficiently meet their slice-of-day capacity obligations.
Research Spotlight
Balancing Quantity, Price, and Structure in the Upper C-Band
By Hector Lopez
The FCC’s Upper C-Band NPRM appears straightforward—unlocking 100 to 180 MHz. Yet the consequences of that range diverge sharply: incremental for terrestrial networks, but structural for satellite incumbents. That gap is what drives pricing, incentives, and strategic choices going forward.…
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Price-first interconnection
By Chris Wilkens
When we think about meeting our growing demand for energy, the interconnection process is as important as the plants themselves. At Forward Market Design, we believe that system operators can improve interconnection by adopting a price-first approach.…
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Responsive Benefits of Entry
By Darrell Hoy
Granular forward trade incentivizes a more responsive grid The U.S. electricity grid faces unprecedented load growth. Earlier this year, Texas grid operator ERCOT forecast new data centers would add 77 GW of load to the grid between 2025 and 2030, driving a 121% increase in total load. Even the expectation has increased 64% over the prior year. Now, this is not set in stone - the signals are speculative, and changes in market conditions or oversaturation may drive these numbers up or down. Th…
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