Australian Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has provided an assurance there are no plans to change Australia’s renewable energy target amid a push from some of his Coalition colleagues for the government to change course given the position of the new US administration under Donald Trump, according to theaustralian.com.

Australia has committed to ensuring that 23.5 per cent of its electricity generation in 2020 comes from renewable sources. But some MPs – including former Prime Minister Tony Abbott – have pushed for the scrapping of renewable energy targets.

Speaking on ABC radio this morning, Mr Frydenberg said: “We have no plans to change that RET for 2020.”

“We think it’s a balanced target. It is not cost free. The Australian Energy Market Commission has said that the cost of the renewable energy target is about $63 a year for the average household in terms of their electricity bills.

“But it’s a far cry from the more than double that target of the 50 per cent renewable energy target that Bill Shorten is proposing.”

Mr Frydenberg warned against adopting an unrealistically high RET. He argues this would prevent Australia from embracing other mechanisms like clean coal technologies as a means of reducing emissions.