Under the “dual-carbon” objective, the large-scale integration of renewable energy into the power grid raises a critical challenge: how to coordinate diverse energy resources with grid operation to simultaneously reduce both operational carbon emissions and system costs. In response, this paper proposes a dual-layer low-carbon economic dispatch strategy driven by dynamic carbon potential signals. Firstly, based on the spatial distribution of carbon potential across load nodes, a stepped carbon pricing scheme and user-side demand response mechanism are introduced. Then, a carbon-potential-guided bi-level dispatch framework is developed, where carbon trading prices serve as control signals to enable coordinated low-carbon optimization from both generation and consumption perspectives. Finally, the IEEE 30-node test system is employed to simulate and evaluate the model, with comparisons to conventional dispatch methods, validating the proposed strategy’s effectiveness.