Submission to the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) and the Reliability Panel on the 2026 Reliability Standard and Settings Draft Report

The current wholesale market settings, which determine how electricity is traded between generators and retailers in the National Electricity Market, remain much higher than necessary to maintain reliability.

We support a reliability framework that prevents unnecessary increases in the prices that consumers face, by properly accounting for government-led capacity procurement as a signal for investment in generation assets.

We recommend that an independent body be established to advise on the future of wholesale market price settings.

Our submission includes two key arguments that should be considered to ensure the framework serves consumer interests:

1. Market settings' role as a signal for investment in flexible generation is exaggerated
2. AEMC's current modelling makes unrealistic assumptions about flexible generators' behaviour

Download the submission (PDF, 440.27KB) to read more.