Households will be an average $2 a week better off under a reinvention of Australia's energy and emissions policy – and the Turnbull government has refused to guarantee even those meagre savings.

It emerged on Tuesday that the savings could start as low as $25 a year, or 50¢ a week.

Despite pitching the policy as a salve to the hip pockets of price-weary power consumers, the government also concedes that the predicted cost saving was based on preliminary analysis, and detailed modelling has not yet been carried out.

The government on Tuesday sought to reset the national energy debate by announcing energy companies will be forced to meet mandated standards of reliability and emissions reduction, which would reduce the risk of blackouts and drive prices down.