On 19 June 2025, the Reliability Panel (The Panel) published an issues paper, to initiate the 2026 Reliability Standard and Settings Review (2026 RSSR).

This review will consider whether the existing reliability standard and settings are appropriate for the expected market conditions from 1 July 2028 to 30 June 2032. The reliability settings include the market price cap (MPC), cumulative price threshold (CPT), administered price cap (APC), and market floor price (MFP).

The general purpose of the review is to determine the level of reliability that customers value. This is called the reliability standard and reflects the trade-off between the costs associated with achieving reliability and the amount customers are willing to pay for reliability, called the Value of Customer Reliability (VCR).  

The reliability standard is then operationalised through the market settings:

• The MPC sets the maximum price that can be reached in the wholesale market for energy and FCAS. This is set, in conjunction with the CPT, at a level to provide financial incentives for investment and operational decision-making that achieves the reliability standard.
• The MFP sets a lower limit on wholesale market prices. The MFP should be set to allow the market to clear in most circumstances without compromising the financial stability of the market.
• The CPT is the maximum cumulative energy and FCAS price that can be reached over a period of 7.5 days before an administered pricing period (APP) commences, during which the APC applies. This caps financial risks to market participants while maintaining the effectiveness of the MPC.
• The APC is the maximum price paid to participants during an APP. This limits financial risk while retaining incentives to generate during APP events.

The Panel will conduct an extensive modelling exercise to determine the effective levels for the standard and each setting. We will be engaging independent external advice to comprehensively review our modelling approach.

We are seeking stakeholder feedback on the issues paper by 17 July 2025.