Policymakers looking for a more robust way to appreciate reliability and to assess what influence they can have over the outcome will find help in this report. This paper will review what reliability is, and encourage broad thinking about how to achieve the levels of reliability society expects in sensible ways that limit both cost and risk. This paper was commissioned to assist policymakers, notably elected officials, in appreciating the issues that will affect reliability as they consider changes in utility statutes and oversee regulatory processes in their jurisdictions.