The price of change: battle over Queensland's energy mix rages on

Is a cost-neutral shift to renewables too good to be true? Energy minister Mark Bailey is ready to take on anyone who says he can't get to 50-50 without steep price rises

It seemed impossibly good news for the Queensland government in its push to transform Australia's biggest carbon-polluting state into a renewable energy powerhouse in little more than a decade.

An expert advisory panel steeped in what the energy minister, Mark Bailey, described as "hard-nosed economic experience and extensive modelling" last month concluded the state could effectively have its cake and eat it in its pursuit of a greener energy sector.