Power price modelling declaring South Australia has the highest energy bills in the world is flawed and designed to mislead, Treasurer and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis says.
Carbon and Energy Markets director Bruce Mountain has released a study saying SA has surpassed Denmark's power bills, but Mr Koutsantonis says the modelling is not a like-for-like comparison.
He said the figures compared Australian prices from 2017 to European prices of 2015, but Mr Mountain told AAP there was a typical year's lag in data and he stood by his calculations.
"Those prices just about everywhere have been very stable and I doubt there would be any meaningful change year on year," he said.
The retail price for power in SA is more than 47 cents per kilowatt, which is more than two cents more than Denmark and at least 15 cents more than Great Britain and the European average, according to the figures.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Mr Koutsantonis did agree SA's prices were too high and businesses and households might prefer to go off-grid.
He urged major retailers to stop increasing energy costs or risk losing customers to solar-battery technology.
