Greens issue demands on energy intervention

Greens leader Adam Bandt has issued the wish list as he heads into negotiations with Labor on its emergency power price legislation, which the government wants to debate and pass when parliament is recalled on Thursday.

But Mr Bandt has refused to say if the Greens would vote against the legislation if Labor refuses to cave to its demands.

That means the fate of a bill to temporarily cap gas prices and deliver up to $1.5 billion in relief to households and small businesses remains up in the air, although the most likely scenario remains that it will pass.

Labor needs the support of either the Coalition or the Greens plus one crossbencher to get the bill through parliament.

The government and unions on Tuesday turned up the pressure on both parties to wave through the bill, which deals with the first part of the intervention agreed to at last week's national cabinet meeting to address soaring energy prices.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said politicians would be voting against "real relief for Australian households" if they opposed the legislation.

Mr Bowen confirmed the government would not be splitting the bill, meaning the Coalition would be forced to either accept all of it or vote against cost-of-living relief for struggling households.

Australian Workers' Union national secretary Daniel Walton described the Coalition and the Greens' reluctance to swiftly back the government's energy intervention as "disgusting behaviour", accusing the parties of threatening the livelihoods of tens of thousands of manufacturing workers to score political points.

The skyrocketing price of gas has put enormous pressure on manufacturers, raising fears that plants could shutter and jobs shed en masse without an urgent intervention.

"It is not an option whether or not to intervene," Mr Walton told The Canberra Times.

"The choice is simply, do you want to see Australia having a manufacturing industry going forward or do you not?

"Because, the choice is that clear for me."

The Greens met on Tuesday to consider the government's plan, but did not settle on a final position.

Instead, the party room authorised Mr Bandt to keep negotiating with the government in the hope of convincing it to agree to their demands.

The Greens want a two-year freeze on power bills and a funded plan to help households switch from gas to electric appliances - all paid for through a windfall profits tax on fossil fuel giants.

Mr Bandt is unlikely to succeed given the government has rejected the proposals in the past.

"Our view is we are not going to die wondering on this, we're going to keep pushing to do our best to get the most amount of money in people's pockets and to make these coal and gas corporations pay their fair share of tax," Mr Bandt said.

"Ultimately, if the government goes in a different way, of course we will have to consider that. But Plan A at the moment is to try and get the government to address those areas."

ACT senator David Pocock, who has also yet to settle on a final position, is also calling for a plan to electrify households.

"So whilst I'm really interested to see the details of this (Thursday's legislation), the solution here is really electrification at a household level that's going to unlock thousands of dollars of savings every single year going forward," he said.

"That's what we have to be aiming for."

Mr Bandt's main concern in recent days had been the prospect of taxpayer-funded compensation being handed to coal companies subject to a coal price cap.

The Greens leader remains opposed to coal compensation, but has accepted that it's not part of the legislation being dealt with on Thursday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers have said repeatedly that the bill has nothing to do with payments to coal companies.

That part of the broader intervention is expected to be thrashed out in separate talks with the states, who are responsible for imposing the $125 per tonne cap under the national cabinet agreement.

Mr Bowen said the NSW government had requested support for coal companies which had production costs which exceeded the price cap.

He said that request was "reasonable" to ensure ongoing supply, but stressed those cases were expected to be "very, very rare".

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The Coalition has been extremely critical of the plan, with leader Peter Dutton describing the intervention as a "witches brew of disaster".

Opposition energy spokesman Ted O'Brien signaled the opposition remained staunchly opposed to measures to regulate gas prices, but was open to supporting bill relief for households and businesses.

"If there is targeted relief, as mangled and messy as Anthony Albanese has made it, we want to see that relief hit people's pockets because they are in pain," he told ABC's RN Breakfast.

In a stern message ahead of Thursday's emergency sitting of parliament, Mr Walton said the Coalition and the Greens were "kidding themselves" if they thought it was reasonable to block, tinker or delay an intervention into 2023.

"Frankly, I think it has been disgusting behaviour from the Greens and the Coalition to essentially threaten the livelihoods of tens of thousands of manufactures for the benefit of a few political points," he said.