For small-to- medium-size businesses, electricity will increase 19.9% a year. Credit:Peter Stoop "This is ... absolutely not what they wanted to hear. In the past 12 months alone wholesale prices for both electricity and gas have surged, almost doubling in some states," she said. EnergyAustralia is the second energy retailer to announce its price increase, after AGL revealed last week that it would increase electricity prices by 16.1 per cent and gas prices by 9.3 per cent. In comparison, electricity prices across all retailers rose by an average of 8 per cent last year, according to a St Vincent de Paul Society report. St Vincent de Paul Society's Gavin Dufty said EnergyAustralia's increase was slightly higher than expected, and cautioned consumers that it "would not be the end."

"These price increases will also be higher for non-solar households, for whom they will be closer to $400 a year," he said, "And for larger consumption households with families and lots of kids, it will be higher again." Some estimates suggest high consumption households could see annual increases of 20.8 per cent - or $517 - a year. Mr Dufty said the reason for different increases between retailers, such as AGL and EnergyAustralia, is because they are based on the retailer's average portfolio. "You might find AGL has more solar households, so they use less, therefore the increase is lower."

Ms Clarke said the EnergyAustralia's price rises were reflective of the impact of higher wholesale costs, following the closure of large coal-fired power stations and reliability issues with some big generators. "Today, getting electricity to our customers costs more right across the energy chain," she said, adding that the retailer would continue to support a wind and solar projects, as well as "smart" solar and battery products. Last week EnergyAustralia committed to a one-off $10 million injection into its hardship program, in order to prepare to help customers through ongoing prices increases. The retailer's hardship program usually runs at $1.5 million each year. Mr Dufty said St Vincent de Paul called on "all the energy companies to muscle up their energy hardship programs and support for vulnerable Australians." The price increases follow the release of the long-awaited review of Australia's electricity market by chief scientist Alan Finkel.

The report outlined a plan to reduce emissions, improve reliability and lower power bills. NSW Energy and Utilities Minister Don Harwin said he was "disappointed" by the increases, which are the result of a "broken national energy market." "As the Prime Minister and Federal Energy Minister have said in the past week, this is a national problem and we need a sensible solution out of the Finkel Review," he said. "For those facing hardship the NSW Government has a range of rebates to help vulnerable customers pay their electricity and gas bills...I urge people who are struggling to call Service NSW or their retailer to find out what rebates they are eligible for." Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the average annual increase for EnergyAustralia customers was $346.

- with Esther Han