The $6.8 billion spent by the federal government on energy bill relief in the last three years would have been enough to kickstart the electrification of over 600,000 households, prompting clean energy advocates to criticise the rebates as a band-aid solution to long-term power price problems.

The cumulative bill relief, which has artificially brought down the energy costs of households in Australia since 2022, could have directly subsidised comprehensive electrification measures in 600 suburbs, according to parliamentary budget office costings.