As Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull prepares to browbeat big electricity retailers in Canberra, the Greens have unveiled their own plans, calling for a price cap on soaring power bills.

The government has touted Wednesday's meeting in Canberra as a chance to pressure major retailers to increase pricing plan transparency to give consumers a clearer path to the cheapest options and avoid some of the pain of huge tariff hikes.

The Greens' plan, though, would have the government go much further, giving states where retail electricity prices are currently deregulated – Victoria, NSW, South Australia, parts of Queensland – until the end of 2017 to re-regulate prices. States would be able to set up public retailers to boost competition.

Should the states fail to act, the Commonwealth could order the Australian Energy Regulator to set prices.