The Turnbull government insists it isn't attacking renewable energy as an unprecedented $5 billion in investment pours into the sector.
The federal government has focused recently on the role wind and solar power have played in a series of blackouts in South Australia.
Senior minister Arthur Sinodinos said those blackouts had brought a whole lot of issues to the fore.
"This is not an attack on renewables or coal or anything else, this is about getting the best energy mix at an affordable price which reduces greenhouse gas emissions," he told ABC TV on Sunday.
"The federal government will lead the development of the national plan because, frankly, we can't have a situation where states can impose their own policies oblivious to the cost not only to their own systems but the cost across the country."
His comments come as the Clean Energy Council releases figures showing 22 large renewable energy projects are either being built or will start this year.
They're worth $5 billion and are expected to create more than 3000 jobs, mostly in regional areas.
Council chairman Kane Thornton said investors were flocking back to the renewable sector after several years of destabilisation under Tony Abbott's leadership.
"Investment confidence has rebounded and our economy is set to reap the benefits through a massive increase in activity between now and the end of the decade," he said.
"However, clarity on long-term energy policy and support for renewable energy beyond 2020 will be essential to ensure these levels of investment are sustained."
Senator Sinodinos said the government was hearing industry's message that certainty over a lower emissions future was vital.
"You put all the options on the table that can potentially achieve that - that can include gas as well, pumped hydro storage ... not just in places like Tasmania - and then you allow the market to sort it out," he said.
"But if industry wants certainty, there has got to be a way of achieving bipartisan policy around this because we are talking about investments which take 20, 30, 40 or 50 years."
Labor frontbencher Ed Husic agreed there needed to be a clear plan for future energy demand through cleaner energy sources and to find ways to rely upon more renewable sources.
"We don't need politicking. We don't need the type of Neanderthal policies from the government," Mr Husic told ABC television.
