Backbencher Craig Kelly is taking it upon himself to prosecute the government’s case for coal-fired power.

The Opposition says if it wins the election, it will drastically ramp-up the use of wind and solar.

That’s despite more than 200,000 homes losing power during Victoria’s heatwave last month.

It came a little more than a year since the Hazlewood coal-fired power plant closed.

In January 2018, wholesale power prices were $26.10 per megawatt hour in Victoria.

This January, with the plant closed, the average price was $250 per megawatt hour. A jump of around 800 per cent.

Liberal member for Hughes, Craig Kelly, is calling on his own government to start informing voters of the issue.

“We are the most energy-rich nation in the world.

“We export more coal than any other nation, we export more LNG than any other nation, we have more uranium in our ground than anywhere else in the world.

“And yet we’ve got this absurd situation, we can’t afford to keep the lights on in Victoria.

“And not only that, we are now paying record wholesale prices for electricity.”

“If it wasn’t so serious, you’d laugh. This is completely insane!”

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