On 20 December 2013, the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) published its final advice to the Standing Council on Energy and Resources (SCER) on linking the reliability standard and reliability settings in the wholesale electricity market with a value of customer reliability (VCR).

The AEMC’s preferred approach is similar to the current process for determining the wholesale electricity market reliability standard and reliability settings. The key difference is the inclusion of a requirement for a VCR, estimated for the customers most affected by a supply shortfall, to be used as a cross-check on the reliability standard.

This approach provides for the level of supply reliability to customers from the generation and bulk-transmission sectors of the national electricity market (NEM) to broadly reflect the value that customers place on receiving a reliable supply of electricity.