The NSW government is downplaying the possibility that some household electricity bills may rise by a third under the federal government's emissions trading scheme (ETS).
NSW Energy Minister John Robertson on Monday said he had received a verbal briefing from the state's pricing regulator about its draft determination on power prices to be handed down next month.
He said figures in the briefing were similar to media reports suggesting electricity bills could rise by 30 per cent, due to the ETS, by 2013.
The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) is set to hand down its draft determination on December 15, with indications country households and businesses are set to be the hardest hit, with a 60 per cent increase in power bills.
Fifty per cent of that increase is due to the ETS.
Figures for metropolitan areas have not been disclosed at this stage.
Mr Robertson admitted the figures were "high", but said he would wait to see if there was any change when the report was handed down in a fortnight's time.
He said the public would then also have the opportunity to respond to the draft during a consultation period ahead of the final determination due to be handed down next March.
Mr Robertson said the 30 per cent increase for household power bills also did not take into account the federal government's $42 billion compensation package as part of the ETS.
"Those figures, as estimates, are high," Mr Robertson told reporters.
"We will, if those figures are in the draft determination, we'll be going over it with a fine tooth comb so that we can ensure we get the balance right between a reliable electricity supply and the cost to consumers."
The federal government has said it will fully compensate low-income families - earning less than $60,000 a year - for an increase in their power bills caused by the ETS.
Families earning up to $160,000 will by partially compensated.
However, the federal government's forecasts are for the ETS to increase power bills by seven per cent.
The 30 per cent price hike may, however, come to nothing in the immediate future, with the future of the federal government's ETS still yet to pass the Senate.
Mr Robertson said it was likely the government would make a submission to the IPART if the figures in the draft determination remained the same.
"It's important that we get that balance right," Mr Robertson said.
"That we have a reliable electricity supply but that it does not impact on families."
Any increase which is passed on to households will follow a 20 per cent hike in electricity bills in July.
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