Anthony Albanese says he's spoken with tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes about changes afoot in the energy market and the Morrison government is "out of touch and isolated".
The government is "in denial" on the energy transition now being driven by the private sector, the opposition leader said on Tuesday.
"At the moment, they are on the sidelines of the debate," he said.
Mr Cannon-Brookes owns a third of Mr Albanese's beloved Rabbitohs, and the Labor leader has tweeted about their chats on making Australia a "renewable energy superpower".
"What we need to do is to make sure that people are looked after and that the opportunities that are there are kept and are spread," Mr Albanese said in Launceston, with a de facto election campaign underway.
But Energy Minister Angus Taylor's office confirmed to AAP the minister has had discussions with Brookfield, which is the larger partner in the consortium seeking to fast-track Australia's exit from coal-fired power.
Labor has been accused of sending mixed messages on coal and sees a role for gas in "rewiring the nation", while the Greens want all coal and gas-fired power plants phased out by 2030.
Meanwhile, the Australian tech billionaire leading the bid to overhaul Australia's largest electricity generator and biggest carbon emitter isn't surprised his initial takeover offer has been rebuffed by AGL Energy.
The consortium remains optimistic an agreement can be reached with the board and shareholders.
Mr Cannon-Brookes says they are doing what the government has asked: provide replacement capacity, bring $20 billion in private capital, have a reliable power grid, and bring people's power bills down.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg insisted the government has been encouraging the energy transition.
"We've invested record amounts in renewable energy - one in four Australia households have solar panels on their roofs," he said.
"But what our responsibility is as a government is to reduce emissions but also to ensure that energy and electricity particularly is affordable and that the system is reliable."
However, a leading infrastructure manager says the clean energy power play for AGL heralds a major shift in the tempo of Australia's energy transition.
Together with the accelerated closure of Origin's Eraring, Australia's biggest coal-fired generator, the nation now has an opportunity to move "beyond the quarry" into value-add industries, David Scaysbrook, co-founder of Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, said
"As for AGL, it is now in play irrespective of the outcome of this particular takeover bid," he told AAP.
Mr Cannon-Brookes said rapidly overhauling AGL will bring jobs "far and wide" in rural Victoria and NSW, not just around former coal power plants.
AGL Energy on Monday rejected an opening bid by Brookfield and Grok Ventures, the private investment company of Mike and Annie Cannon-Brookes.
"Cannon-Brookes is certainly not short on ambition and new ideas as to how to maximise that hugely valuable opportunity," Mr Scaysbrook said.
"Just like Andrew Forrest at Fortescue, they are both dreaming way bigger than our political leaders."
