The federal coalition has jumped on reports electricity bills will rise over the next few years, partly due to the government's renewable energy scheme.
The government's chief energy adviser predicts household bills will jump 30 per cent by mid-2013, as companies move towards the 20 per cent renewable energy target by 2020.
The biggest impost on electricity bills will be more than $33 billion in upgrades to ageing power distribution networks.
But the renewable energy target, set up in 2010 to encourage renewable generation, will account for 11 per cent of the rise, the Australian Energy Market Commission report found.
The opposition supports the 20 per cent renewable energy target.
But junior environment spokesman Simon Birmingham says the report's findings highlight the "significant" price hikes likely before Labor's proposed carbon tax is applied.
"Electricity is not a luxury good, it's not something you do once in a while like buying a new car," he told ABC television.
"People just can't afford to pay the extra carbon tax on top of these already significant rises."
The Greens weighed into the debate, insisting renewable energy "is an investment in the future" despite predicted electricity price increases.
Greens leader Bob Brown says renewable energy appears costly because the "destructive environmental aspects" of coal-fired energy are not taken into the equation.
"When you do that renewable energy becomes a winner," he told reporters in Hobart.
The $11 billion in subsidies given to fossil fuel industries, including coal, each year, would be better spent on renewables, he said.
"Take those subsidies away and renewable energy looks better and better," Senator Brown said, noting the solar panels on his roof were delivering considerable savings.
He also took a swipe at The Weekend Australian's coverage of the report.
"The poor old Australian, it's just so negative," he said.
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