Electricity bills for the average Canberra household are set to rise by about $3.70 per week from July 1, under a draft determination by the ACT Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission (ICRC).
Power prices are likely to increase by 10.9 per cent, although possibly more, following recommendations by the independent regulator.
Senior Commissioner Joe Dimasi said for the average household using about 8,000 kWh per year, it would mean an electricity bill increase of about $191.
However sustainability minister Shane Rattenbury said Canberrans would still pay on average $800 less than Queanbeyan residents despite the proposed increase.
"Despite the proposed increase, the ACT will continue to have some of the lowest electricity prices in the country," Mr Rattenbury said.
But the ICRC said if the wholesale price of electricity remained high, it was is likely to result in a higher percentage price increase.
It noted the biggest driver of the estimated price increase was the wholesale electricity purchase cost, which has more than doubled from around $51 per MWh to $110 per MWh since last June.
"This is followed by the national renewable energy costs driven by large-scale and small-scale generation certificate prices," a statement from the ICRC said.
However Mr Rattenbury pinned the blame on "ongoing uncertainty around the Federal Government's energy policy".
"Investment in new energy projects has stalled, as industry awaits a clear plan for the future of energy in Australia, particularly on setting a price on carbon emissions<" Mr Rattenbury said.
"The bulk of today's proposed increase is outside the control of the ACT and similar price rises will be felt by most other Australian states."
The draft ruling from the ICRC coincided with Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce lambasting the ACT's 100 per cent renewable target as "crazy"Â on the ABC's AM program.
"We've got the ACT saying they want 100 per cent renewables and it's crazy," Mr Joyce told host Sabra Lane on Tuesday morning."So, what we have to have is the Labor party, they have to stop listening so much to the Greens and start listening a bit more to common sense and, you know, pushing for agendas that we can achieve."
The commission is expected to make its final ruling on retail electricity prices in June.
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