Greens to back energy intervention after securing household electrification promise

In what the Energy Minister Chris Bowen has described "meaningful and substantial" package, the Greens have secured agreement to develop an energy transition plan for the May Budget to assist Australian households and businesses deal with the move to electrification and "support them on their journey".

Mr Bowen has described the shift to electrification as "well overdue work" and the commitment was worthy while the government gets to pass its emergency energy intervention bill before Christmas.

"The legislation we will deliver tomorrow will ensure the energy price rises we are seeing right around the world and 90 per cent of them come from coal and gas prices which are a result of Putin's illegal war, have the sting taken out of the tail when it comes to Australians," the Minister told reporters.

"Australian households which can ill afford it, Australian industry which would have been under enormous pressure if these price rises had been allowed to sail through without a response from the government."

Earlier Greens leader Adam Bandt revealed the agreement as he confirmed the party would support the government's bill when the Federal Parliament returns on Thursday.

"The Greens have secured a significant package that will help meet the cost for households and businesses to switch over from dirty and expensive gas to cleaner and cheaper appliances," Mr Bandt said.

"That could save households hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, and these will be savings that last a lifetime."

The announcement came after independent ACT senator David Pocock called on the Albanese government to move towards fully electrifying every home in Australia, as he confirmed he too would support the energy price relief package in the Senate.

Just days after describing the coal and gas market intervention as "a Band-Aid on a festering wound", Senator Pocock has announced he will back the package in the Senate in a one-off sitting of Parliament on Thursday due to the "extreme stress" caused by escalating energy prices and the urgent need to provide some relief.

However, he is asking the government to consider broadening the package to include a national transition authority to help fossil-fuel dependent communities transition to renewable energy, as well as support a suburb-wide full household electrification pilot in the ACT.

"I fully support the need to lower energy bills for Australian households and businesses who are doing it extremely tough," Senator Pocock said in a statement.

"I welcome the commitment to providing relief to the most vulnerable in our community via the $1.5 billion Energy Bill Relief Fund and look forward to further details being worked through with the states and territories."

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The federal legislative bundle which proposes to cap gas prices at $12 a gigajoule and create a fund to supply up to $1.5 billion in power bill relief required either the Greens or Coalition support to pass the Senate, plus the vote of one crossbencher if the Greens offered support.

Separate state regulation would apply a temporary cap on coal of $125 a tonne.

Treasury modelling has found an average family would be $230 worse off next year without the intervention.

The ACT senator joins Jacqui Lambie Network senators, Jacqui Lambie and Tammy Tyrrell, in indicating support, but he still has reservations.

"It is unconscionable that Australian taxpayers should have to pay compensation to companies to put a limit on the record wartime profits they have been making in selling our own resources back to us," he said.

"Compensation and energy bill relief should be funded through a windfall profits tax. I wish the government had the courage to ensure Australians could start getting a fair return on the exploitation of the natural resources we own."

He is calling for a suburb-wide full household electrification pilot, citing costings by the Parliamentary Budget Office which has put a $11.3 million price tag over four years for a trial for 1000 homes in the ACT.

"Fully electrifying every home in Australia - including by equipping them with things like solar panels and heat pumps - would cost about the same as the government currently spends every year on fossil fuel subsidies," he said.

The Energy Minister said an ACT pilot would be considered.

"I recognise that in good faith and I've had most detailed conversations with the Greens. David has raised it with me," Mr Bowen said. "Pilots and that sort of thing are something we'll consider as we develop a strategy."

Senator Pocock is also continuing his call for windfall profits tax on companies to fund compensation and energy bill relief.