The price declines will be most notable in NSW and Tasmania, although Queensland and Western Australia can expect price rises, a report by the Australian Energy Markets Commission (AEMC) shows.

The removal of the carbon price has had a one-off impact, but the cost of ongoing subsidies for renewable energy is a continued impost. The largest single factor in the flagged declines is tighter control over spending by electricity distributors following heavy outlays over the past five years, the study found.

"The cost of the regulated network sector is mainly flat or falling under a new, tighter regulatory framework,"  commission chairman John Pierce said.

As a result, NSW prices are expected to fall by 5.8 per cent a year in the three years to mid-2017 and Tasmania 3 per cent a year, while in Victoria, which has not suffered from the surge in power prices, the decline will be a more modest 0.8 per cent annually.

The report found the price on carbon emissions boosted power prices by about 8 per cent nationally before its removal, although the ongoing cost of other renewable energy subsidies, such as the solar tariff, will still add about 5 per cent to the power bill over the next few years, largely because of the rising cost of the large-scale renewables energy scheme.

In NSW, power prices are expected to decline by an average of 9.7 per cent in 2014-15 and a further 11 per cent in 2015-16 - mostly a result of falling network charges thanks to recent policy changes - before rising 2.2 per cent on average in the year following.

This is in sharp contrast to Victoria, where prices are expected to remain essentially flat over the next three years - declining by an average 5.5 per cent in 2014-15, before rising by 2.3 per cent in 2015-16 and a further 1.5 per cent in 2016-17.

In Victoria, weak wholesale electricity prices would keep prices low until mid-2015, but rising network charges would push prices higher in the following two years,  the report found.

"Network prices are expected to increase at an annual average 4.2 per cent over the [three years], reflecting revenue allowances approved for network companies prior to the recent network regulation rule changes," Mr Pierce said.

However, the introduction of new controls on network spending in Victoria from 2016 would limit the impact from higher outlays in the future, he said.

Even so, the AEMC estimates households in Victoria could shave as much as $246 off their annual electricity bill by shopping around for lower-priced offers from power retailers. In NSW, shopping around could save households an estimated $165 a year, it said.

"Increased competition in the NSW electricity markets is providing opportunities for consumers to switch retailers, with savings of around 8 per cent or $165 on their annual bill if consumers switched from the regulated offer to a market offer in 2013/14," NSW Energy Minister Anthony Roberts said.

Consumers in Queensland could save an estimated $93 a year and in South Australia $189, it said.

"We're at the low point of the electricity price cycle," Scott Wooldridge, the chief executive of Energy Action, a large broker, said. Mandated cuts to network prices will flow through automatically to users, he said, although wholesale power prices are now starting to edge higher especially as generators idle capacity, as signalled mid-week with AGL to close some units in South Australia.

"We are seeing prices rise in NSW and Vicrtoria," he said, "and prices will continue to move higher."

His company is advising clients to take advantage of the soft prices to lock into longer term supply contracts.