Households could save hundreds of dollars a year on their power bills under a suite of changes proposed by the Morrison government.
The government will move to set a default price for electricity in line with a recommendation from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's inquiry into retail power prices.
However, Labor says the coalition is playing catch-up on a policy the opposition announced in August.
The Australian Energy Regulator will act on Tuesday to require power retailers to set their prices against a default market price. This could help households save hundreds of dollars, and businesses thousands.
"We are putting the necessary focus on keeping the big energy companies under control to get prices down," Mr Morrison told reporters in Canberra.
The government will also introduce a reference bill for each region under which electricity retailers will be required to calculate and advertise their discounts using a common reference point.
This will help customers to clearly compare offers to find the best deal.
A report by the Australian Energy Market Commission found customers on standing offers could be paying up to $832 per year more than the cheapest market offer in South Australia.
The figures for other states were: Victoria ($652), NSW ($411), Queensland ($369) and ACT ($273). Tasmania already has a regulated standing offer.
For small businesses the price differences range from $969 to $3457.
Energy Minister Angus Taylor will meet with his state and territory counterparts in Sydney on Friday to discuss co-operation and law changes.
Mr Morrison said the reforms would also ensure energy companies buy ahead and contract reliable energy supply into the market.
And the government would back in investment for "more new reliable power generation", with a pipeline of energy projects to start next year.
Mr Morrison said where coal "stacks up" it could be included in the project list and emissions cuts would not be forgotten in the plan.
Labor energy spokesman Mark Butler says a default price doesn't do enough to give industry and consumers certainty.
The ACCC recommendations were designed to be used alongside the coalition's now-dumped National Energy Guarantee and not as a substitute, he added.
"They have effectively bastardised the ACCC recommendation that was not intended to allow new coal," he told reporters in Canberra.
CEO of Energy Consumers Australia Rosemary Sinclair expects to see changes in prices very early, with customers likely to save hundreds of dollars depending on which state they live in.
"It will be very, very worthwhile because the consumers that we're talking about who are affected most by this are those consumers who are most vulnerable to energy prices," she said.
