The federal Energy Minister has lashed his state counterparts who are persisting with the push to renewable energy.

The government is considering 10 new power-generating projects across the country to avoid a repeat of last week’s mass brownouts.

Extreme temperatures in Victoria last Friday saw more than 200,000 homes lose power, despite some of the state’s largest energy users shutting down operations.

Now the government wants to put more energy back into the National Electricity Market with 66 submissions for projects, including coal, gas and hydro.

Minister Angus Taylor tells Alan Jones state governments must stop demonising coal-fired power.

“If Hazelwood had of been there in Victoria last week, we wouldn’t have had 200,00 houses without power.

“We not only need to bring new power in but we also need to retain what we’ve got.

“We’ve got to have balance in the system, this idea that you can go to 100 per cent renewables overnights – this is madness, it’s not on and we’re taking action!

“Any state government that goes for a target like this is being irresponsible, is trashing their electricity network.”

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