The Reliability Panel has published its draft report for the 2026 Reliability Standard and Settings Review (RSSR), seeking stakeholder feedback on draft recommendations for the reliability standard and market price settings to apply from 1 July 2028 to 30 June 2032.
The Reliability Panel monitors and reports on the security and reliability of the national electricity system and determines standards and guidelines used by market participants to maintain a reliable and secure power system for consumers. The Panel operates under the AEMC's governance, monitoring and reporting on the security and reliability of the national electricity system.
The Panel comprises representatives from across the National Electricity Market (NEM), including small and large consumers, generators, networks, retailers and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).
Reliability is about making sure we have enough electricity to deliver power to consumers when and where they need it.
The RSSR involves recommending a reliability standard and market price settings that encourage sufficient investment in generation, storage and demand response capacity to meet customer needs at a level that they value.
Balancing cost and the value customers place on reliability
Two significant market changes since the 2022 Reliability Standard and Settings Review suggest a different reliability standard may better serve customers.
- First, the costs of building new gas-fired generation have increased significantly. While we expect the market to deliver a mix of batteries, generation, and demand-side response, modelling shows that new gas-fired generation remains the critical backup needed to meet the reliability standard during peak periods. This means it could cost more to meet the current reliability standard.
- Second, according to the Australian Energy Regulator’s latest assessment, the reported value that customers place on reliability has decreased by an average of 18 per cent across all regions.
The impact of these two changes is that a different reliability standard could manage costs for consumers without significantly affecting the reliability they experience day-to-day.
The Panel's draft report recommends that the reliability standard for the NEM be set within the range of 0.002% to 0.004% unserved energy (USE).
This proposed range starts at the current level of 0.002% USE and is equivalent to approximately 10 minutes of outages per customer per year, up to 21 minutes of outages.
The NEM has delivered high levels of reliability with no supply interruptions caused by generation shortfalls over the last five years. When customers experience supply interruptions, 95 per cent are due to distribution network outages, such as trees falling on distribution lines, rather than generation adequacy issues.
Market price settings
The Panel's modelling shows that different reliability standards require different market price caps (MPC) and cumulative price threshold (CPT) levels.
We are seeking stakeholder feedback on which MPC and CPT combinations would best balance delivering a reliable system that customers value.
While these settings affect wholesale electricity prices less than 1 per cent of the time, they send critical investment signals to deliver the level of investment needed to meet customers’ reliability expectations.
The Panel has also made draft recommendations to:
- Retain the market floor price (MFP), administered price cap (APC) and administered floor price (AFP) at -$1,000/MWh, $600/MWh and -$600/MWh, respectively.
- Link the MFP to minimum system load (MSL) conditions to ensure the market continues to clear effectively and minimise the need for market intervention.
Reliability Panel Chair Rainer Korte said the draft recommendations reflect careful consideration of changing market conditions and represent a genuine consultation on how to balance evolving customer needs with system reliability.
"The reliability framework must evolve to reflect the realities of our transitioning electricity system. Analysis shows that customers now value reliability differently than they did four years ago, while the costs to provide that reliability have changed significantly,” Mr Korte said.
"The Panel’s draft recommendations are designed to maintain strong reliability performance while being mindful of cost impacts on households and businesses.”
The Panel is seeking stakeholder views by 29 January 2026
The Panel is seeking stakeholder views on setting the reliability standard within the proposed range and the associated market price setting that best serve customers' long-term interests. Submissions close 29 January 2026. The final recommendations will be informed by the feedback received.
Any recommended changes would require further AEMC work before taking effect in the market.
For more information, visit the project page.
Media enquiries: Jessica Rich | 0459 918 964 | media@aemc.gov.au