Current US RTO/ISO-managed wholesale power markets maintain a conceptually problematic distinction between “reserve” and “energy” as transacted products. Spot-market prices, supplemented by out-of-market make-whole payments, are used to determine product settlements for forward-market operations. These design features result in system operations and settlement processes that are complicated and confusing for market participants. In contrast, the Linked Swing-Contract Market Design proposed is conceptually coherent. The design envisions a centrally managed wholesale power market as a linked collection of ISO-managed forward reserve markets. Reserve bids submitted into a swing-contract market are price-sensitive and/or fixed demands for power-path deliveries. The ISO allocates net reserve procurement costs and transmission service costs across market participants on the basis of their contributions to these costs.