At the same time, households with north-facing solar panels may find it will save them more money to change them to face west, even though they may then produce less electricity.

After a decade of so-called "gold plating" the electricity network, the government is now seeking to head off more overspending by overhauling charges. Steep rises in network upgrades - much of it to feed the surge in air-conditioner use - has pushed the household electricity bill sharply higher in recent years.

The cost of feeding electricity to the family home or business makes up about half of the quarterly bill, and it is typically comprised of a fixed component plus a charge related to the amount of electricity used. But the charges do not vary between peak usage times, such as mid-evening, and times of low usage overnight or mid-afternoon.

As a result, households that use most of their electricity at off-peak times are overcharged.

"Network prices over-recover revenue for off-peak use ... and under-recover for peak use," the chairman of the Australian Energy Market Commission, John Pierce, said.

"The amount of electricity used ... at different times of the day can vary enormously depending on the various appliances and technologies being used from home to home. But consumers aren't being given the option of reducing their peak demand to save money, or continuing to use electricity at those times when the value they place on that use outweighs the costs."

For a household with a large air-conditioner that it uses at peak demand times, or during hot or cold weather, the electricity company may need to spend $1000 to upgrade the network, costing the household $300 in extra charges, but with the other $700 paid by all other households, even those without air-conditioners.

Similarly, a house with north-facing solar panels may save around $200 in network charges. But since the electricity is generated at times of low demand it actually saves the electricity company only an estimated $80, which means the other $120 is paid by households without the panels via higher charges.

Electricity companies are to be forced to discuss and explain any planned changes to their customers, in a program that will not happen overnight.

"The intention is to only change the ... tariff at a pace so people can understand what is happening, and respond to it," Mr Pierce said, with the changes to take effect over several years.

"A lot of this is about sending price signals about their choices."

A series of changes are expected to be implemented over the next few years to remove cross subsidies, which should reduce the bills of households without air-conditioners or who mostly user electricity at off-peak times.

John Bradley, of the Energy Networks Association, a lobby group for some electricity companies, said the subsidies were hidden in the existing system, but he called for flexibility in how the industry respond's to any changes.