On 30 January 2014 the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) received a request from the SCER to develop common definitions for expressing distribution reliability targets across the National Electricity Market (NEM). SCER considers this would be a useful tool to facilitate efficient investment, increase transparency and improve regulatory outcomes.

The Review originates from a recommendation made to the SCER by the AEMC in its Review of the national framework for distribution reliability, for which a final report was published on 27 September 2013.

The AEMC has commenced the review and will work with the AER, relevant electricity distribution businesses, jurisdictional regulatory bodies and governments in the development of the common definitions.

On 26 March 2014 the AEMC received a letter from SCER agreeing to an extension of the project timeline from 31 July 2014, prescribed in the terms of reference, to 5 September 2014. The additional time will allow for public consultation which will facilitate a wider understanding of the proposed measures amongst different stakeholders.