Hazelwood owner 'driven out of town' by Daniel Andrews: Frydenberg

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has given
Australians assurances about the security of
the country's energy network.

Hazelwood owner Engie was "driven out of town" by the Andrews government, Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has claimed.

In a sign that a sensible national debate on energy security is unlikely any time soon, a war of words has erupted between the state and federal governments in the wake of the historic decision by Engie to close Hazelwood by the end of March.

On Thursday, Mr Frydenberg offered reassurance that the energy network could cope with the closure of the plant, which generates up to one-quarter of the Victoria's power when fully operational. He also said the federal government broadly agreed with a state assessment that power prices will rise by 4 to 8 per cent as a result of the closure.

But on Friday Mr Frydenberg went on the offensive, accusing the Andrews government of forcing the shutdown by tripling the brown coal royalty rate in the last budget and imposing an "unrealistic" 40 per cent renewable energy target.

Read Josh Gordon’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Hazelwood owner 'driven out of town' by Daniel Andrews: Frydenberg.”