The National Energy Guarantee passage (NEG) continues to be in the spotlight this week, despite winning qualified support.
Now that the Coalition party room has given majority approval for the plan, the energy minister Josh Frydenberg says the National Energy Guarantee passage can move on to the next stage.
This will be the release of National Energy Law (NEL) amendments, which describe how the NEG legislation will operate over time.
In the interim, however, opposition to the plan continues, indicating it won’t be plain sailing ahead for the government.
COAG ministers agree to release amendments
Frydenberg claims the NEG is in the “national interest” because it will deliver lower bills, greater energy reliability, and more certainty for investors.
At the 18th COAG Energy Council meeting last Friday, energy ministers agreed to release a draft of the NEL amendments if the Coalition party room supported them.
Once released, the Energy Security Board will consult on the amendments for four weeks. Following this, a further two weeks will be needed for legislation refinements before any implementation of the plan is possible.
Senate directs the government to release full modelling
Meanwhile, the Greens have called for the minister to reveal the full modelling that underpins the NEG. So far, the government has produced an Excel spreadsheet version, which the Senate says is inadequate.
Greens Party energy spokesperson Adam Bandt claims some of the assumptions behind the spreadsheet look “implausible”.
“The NEG modelling is either full of holes or doesn’t exist,” Bandt said yesterday. He added that the Prime Minister cannot expect governments to sign up to the NEG without seeing the full modelling.
Bandt also called on premiers to reject a “proposal for a coal slush fund” included in the NEG.
Greens Leader Richard Di Natale has described the NEG as a “dud”. He claims it is designed to end the Coalition war, rather than the climate war.
National Energy Guarantee passage threatened by Labor
On top of the Senate ruling, federal Labor is proposing a much higher emissions reduction target of 45 per cent by 2030, and state Labor governments want more emphasis on renewables such as solar installations.
Victoria is also calling for an increase to the emissions target by regulation rather than by legislation.
