In July 2023, the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) commenced work on the suitability of the national electricity market (NEM) in a renewable-dominated future. We are doing this work in our role as expert energy adviser to governments.  

As part of this work, we have provided a submission to the Australian Government’s NEM wholesale market settings review. This review is being led by an independent expert panel supported by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.  

Our submission to the review’s initial consultation paper outlines the work we have been doing over the past 18 months to understand the challenges in the NEM that need to be solved, the elements of the current design that we should retain and leverage, and the areas where we see new focus and solutions are required.

The submission also includes the working paper we provided to governments in March 2024 which developed a robust decision-making framework to help design support mechanisms for the NEM.  

Our future of the wholesale market design project is part of our priority to progress work relating to longer-term market design to ensure our frameworks provide the appropriate reliability settings, efficient provision of system services and investment signals for the net-zero future. 

Staff research on the risk of algorithmic collusion in the NEM – supplementary AEMC submission to the NEM Expert Panel review 

In July 2025 we provided a supplementary submission to the NEM Expert Panel review, where we shared an internal staff project, completed in mid-2024, exploring the role of AI and the future of energy regulation. In one of the focus areas, staff analysed the risks posed by algorithmic bidding and rebidding for the NEM.

The NEM Expert Panel’s Draft Report also considered these risks, making a draft recommendation that “market bodies and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) should work together to develop regulatory responses, including rule changes if needed, that address risks created by excessive rebidding and algorithmic bidding.”

In light of the NEM Expert Panel’s Draft Recommendations, we have published the earlier AEMC analysis on algorithmic bidding on our website.