To extend your analogy, the key difference between retail goods and electricity is that electricity can move at the speed of light as long as there is a wire to move it on. 1/
What Euro (and now Chinese) power mkts are doing is using UHV #transmission lines to move surplus power to mkts with excess demand. This benefits #renewables which are not dispatchable also uses more capacity of baseload plants. /2
As @ABBgroupnews and @Siemens will tell you, the power loss w/ HVDC #transmission > 2,000 mi is very low and can easily tranverse water boundaries, which is why it's being used for offshore wind and across North Sea. /3 
Besides too much regulation, the U.S. power mkts also suffer from the "Balkanization" of mkts -- w/ 50 separate Public Utility Comm's at state level, so that kWh's change value when they cross a state line. (?) /4
For this reason, US power grid resembles US highway system BEFORE modern interstate system was built. If robust power grid existed today (w/ day-ahead power mkt), kWs could cross time zones to meet peak demands as needed. /5
.@AWEA, @clacky007 and others have done the needed research on these issues. What's needed is the leadership at the national level (?) and a compelling argument (like national security) to override the vested interests in place at the state level. /6
Since US power mkts seem frozen, global leadership will likely pass to Chinese, who are going full speed w/ latest UHV technology, turning "energy for export" into a reality througout their Belt-and-Road territories. See @geidco project goo.gl/SgbGX1
See also @jtemple's story on #HVDC in @techreview "How to Get Wyoming Wind to California, and Cut 80% of U.S. Carbon Emissions" goo.gl/52L4cF /END
