Explained: How to understand Australia's new energy mess

On August 14, a clear majority of the federal Coalition party room endorsed the National Energy Guarantee being promoted by then Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg.

Designed by the nation's top energy regulators, the NEG was designed to encourage the market to provide a mix of power that would reduce Australia's carbon emissions but would be reliable enough to avoid blackouts - and reduce household power bills. With the strong backing from business, the NEG appeared to be a policy that could attract bipartisan support and provide a stable framework for investment to end a decade of damaging "climate wars".