The Turnbull government spent an estimated $300,000 of taxpayers' cash to spruik its energy policies for just 60 seconds during last weekend's football grand finals.

Labor has branded the TV ad spending a "disgusting waste of money" that could have paid off thousands of household power bills.

The government ran two 30-second TV ads – one during Saturday's AFL final and another during Sunday's NRL game – as part of its multimedia "Powering Forward" campaign, which claims the government is bringing down power prices and improving energy reliability.

The ads ran in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and Brisbane.