Big energy 'not serious about price pain'

Ed Husic says contract gas price offers after an agreement between the federal government and gas companies were just as high, if not higher, than before.

The agreement was supposed to secure supply for the domestic market and put downward pressure on prices. 

"LNG exporters ... have got influence of 90 per cent of the proven and probable reserves in this country," he told ABC radio on Thursday.

"So, their view is they can keep doing what they've been doing. To my mind, it is saying they are not taking this issue seriously."

The minister said the "tone deaf" actions of gas companies were forcing the government to consider further interventions in the market. 

"These companies are just not doing the right thing," he said.

"The LNG exporters are offering gas to the domestic market at prices they couldn't reasonably expect on the international market."

Mr Husic is touting longer-term reforms to deliver lower energy prices as the prime minister defends his government's first budget not offering any help to struggling families. 

Anthony Albanese says handouts would only add to inflation and drive up interest rates, instead touting greater investment in renewable energy as the answer.

But the government has refused to put a time frame or a number on lower prices.

The prime minister's pre-election pledge to lower energy bills by $275 by 2025 has been all but scrapped from the government's talking points. 

Asked directly if the $275 figure is still the benchmark target, Mr Albanese said "the guarantee is that renewables are the cheapest form of energy".

"The numbers are that energy bills will be cheaper when you have more renewables," he told Channel 10's The Project.

The Australian Energy Market Commission says the use of smart meters would deliver a more than $500 million benefit to the national energy market.

Smart meters are devices that measure energy usage digitally and allow consumers to see how much power they are using in real time.

The commission's chair Anna Collyer said the upgrade to smart meters would allow for a more efficient energy network.

"You can't run a smart system on the old dumb technology like traditional accumulation meters," she said.