Households could be spending some $495 more on their power bills than they were before Labor won government despite promises that prices would fall after the energy regulator proposed increases of up to 8.9 per cent.

But energy analysts are warning that attempts at offsetting the spike in prices with rebates – the Albanese government put in place a $3.5 billion scheme in the last budget and spent $3 billion a year earlier – would do nothing to address the underlying reasons electricity bills are rising.