But nearly half - 46.2 per cent - of the bush capital's energy consumption in 2017 was from renewable sources, including pumped hydro, solar and wind.

The independent not-for-profit Climate Council released a report on Tuesday naming the bush capital as the second-best performing Australian jurisdiction when it came renewable energy.

The report found the ACT was on track to meet its 100 per cent renewable energy target by 2020.

Climate Council senior energy analyst Petra Stock said the capital had streaked ahead of other jurisdictions in renewable energy in a matter of years.

"There's so many great things to say about the ACT. I think it's an example of what even a pretty small state or territory can do with really strong policies," Ms Stock said.

Launching the report,Climate Council contributor Greg Bourne said the federal government had failed on energy and climate change policy, forcing businesses and local jurisdictions to step into the policy vacuum.

According to the report, 46.2 per cent of the energy the ACT consumed was from renewable sources, the second highest of any state or territory.

The capital also had the highest per capita renewable energy use in Australia with 1.1 kilowatt per person.

It came second to Tasmania with 87.4 per cent of its energy consumption from renewable sources, but a lower per capita renewable energy use than the ACT.

South Australia was the country's third best performing jurisdiction, with 43.4 of power consumption from renewable sources and the same per capita use as the ACT.

Australian jurisdictions were scored on their use of renewable energy, capacity per capita, the number of households with solar panels and their renewable energy targets and responsibilities.

"It would be fair to say the ACT has made significant contribution to renewable energy in Australia generally," Ms Stock said.

In 2016, the ACT contributed to 54 per cent of Australia's  renewable energy projects in Australia and 40 per cent in 2017.

"They've really kept the whole thing afloat while Australia went through the review of the renewable energy target there was a massive investment drought.  The ACT has played a key role in keeping the industry alive," Ms Stock said.

The ACT had the third lowest rooftop solar penetration rate - 14.2 per cent in the country, tied with Tasmania and beaten by Queensland's whopping 32.9 per cent.

"One of the reasons the ACT has a lower amount of rooftop solar is because electricity prices are lower than they are in other states," Ms Stock said.

Higher electricity prices were a key driver for households to install rooftop solar, she said.

While the ACT's power prices have been historically lower than other states or territories, they have risen sharply in recent years.

In July, Canberra's biggest energy provider - ActewAGL - passed on the maximum allowed price rise of 14.29 per cent to local households despite cutting prices in other jurisdictions.

Asked whether the targets were easier for the ACT to meet due its sized compared to other jurisdictions, Ms Stock said each state had its own opportunities and some may have had bigger budgets.

One of the ACT's biggest hurdles was finding the land for projects for large scale renewable projects, Ms Stock said.

She pointed to the ACT government's plan to equip 5,000 Canberra homes with household battery storage and bringing forward its target of net zero emissions from 2050 to 2045.

Ms Stock also said the governments reverse auction policy had forced other states to play catch up.

Reverse auctions, or a competitive tender, allowed the government to put a call out for the lowest priced renewable energy project, forcing companies to underbid each other and locking in lower and fixed-long term prices.

"The ACT is doing a really stand up job," Ms Stock said.