A lot of eyes will be on energy ministers on Thursday, as they take part in the first of two meetings this week between state and federal decision-makers focused on how to avoid skyrocketing power prices.
Energy ministers from the states and territories, along with Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen, meet on Thursday, followed by national cabinet on Friday.
The aim of both is to reach some kind of agreement about how governments across the board will help reduce power bills for millions of Australians, while not making inflation even worse.
In case you haven't had a chance to get your head around what's happening now, here's how we got to this point.
Why are prices going crazy?
The biggest factor behind skyrocketing power prices is the global shock caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
As countries in Europe look to further wean themselves off Russian gas, Australian exports have been filling the gaps and benefiting from the high international prices.
Adding to the mix is the ongoing impact of older coal-fired power plants going offline.
So, how much of an increase are we talking? According to the budget, without any action power prices will rise by 56 per cent over the next two years, and gas prices by 40 per cent.
Whatever the driver, the government is keenly aware that given everyone is also grappling with a rising cost-of-living and wages that aren't keeping up, the forecast jump in power prices could cripple some households and businesses.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has made it clear the government's going to announce its plan to intervene in the market and bring prices down before Christmas.
What are the solutions on the table?
The ABC revealed last week the government's considering a cap on gas and coal prices, but it's understood it wants the states to implement it because it believes there would be less legal liability if it came from them.
By introducing a cap on how much energy producers can sell either coal or gas for in the Australian market, it'll also reduce what price retailers can then sell it to consumers for.
Under federal law, retailers have to pass on "significant and sustained cost reductions" to their customers — that is, they can't keep the savings from cheaper wholesale energy to make more profit.
The government also wants gas producers to guarantee there'll be supply for the Australian market.
It's not clear if this is the same as, or a different policy, to the agreement Resources Minister Madeleine King struck with producers earlier this year, when they agreed to provide an extra 157 petajoules of gas to the east coast gas market in 2023.
But the plan isn't without its controversy. The two big coal producing states, NSW and Queensland, are set to reap billions of dollars in royalties thanks to the booming price of coal exports.
If a cap is introduced they want the government to compensate them for any profits they might lose. Energy producers may also seek compensation as well.
It's worth noting too that the government is going down this path instead of cash payments to help with bills, because it couldn't control how households spend the money and doesn't want to add to inflation.
Didn't we go through this in June?
This isn't the first time a looming energy crisis has been the focus this year and it's likely it'll be a hot topic in 2023 as well.
Earlier this year the Australian Energy Market Operator took unprecedented action to avoid blackouts on the east coast, fuelled partly by the war in Ukraine.
Part of what the government is doing now is to avoid a repeat of that in winter next year.
One of the things that came out of a June meeting of energy ministers — which they'll also be discussing on Thursday — is fast-tracking what's called the "capacity mechanism".
In a nutshell, the mechanism will see energy retailers pay power providers to keep spare energy capacity just in case it's needed.
Mr Bowen said this mechanism would be high on the agenda at Thursday's meeting.
What happens next?
Mr Bowen also made clear that the meeting with his state and territory counterparts, and then Friday's national cabinet meeting, are "where the key decisions will be made".
The prime minister and the government are no doubt hopeful that they'll finish this week with an agreement on the way forward, including on price caps for both gas and coal.
And while, if that happens, there's no clear timeline on when any cap could come into place, it's safe to say businesses and households would like it in place a soon as possible.
Even when it happens, it might take a while for any difference to flow through to your power bill.
The federal opposition also wants greater clarity on the government's plan — accusing it of keeping the states and territories in the dark about what will happen before the end of the year.
