Albanese said he would seek the states' agreement on data centre rules — Bowen says Canberra will legislate over them
National Cabinet has not met, and Queensland and the Northern Territory had already broken ranks at the energy ministers' meeting before it.
Anthony Albanese said he would ask the states and territories to agree on rules for AI data centres.
Three weeks later, and before that meeting has happened, Chris Bowen has told them what will happen if they don't.
The energy minister used a National Press Club address on Wednesday to say the Commonwealth would legislate to stop dissenting states and territories letting large data centres run on fossil fuels, using federal powers over the market operator and the rule-maker to control the terms on which new centres connect to the grid.
States could go harder than the national floor, he said.
They could not go under it.
That is a different proposition to the one the Prime Minister put at the University of Sydney on July 15, when he said he would seek agreement from the states at National Cabinet in August and work with them on where the centres are built.
National Cabinet has not met.
Queensland and the Northern Territory broke ranks at the energy ministers' meeting before it and have not signed up.
"What we're not going to do is let one state or one territory dictate to the rest of the Commonwealth or the other states," Mr Bowen told ABC radio on Thursday.
"Their way is going to be the lowest common denominator. Nor is it in the best interest of the country. Just say let it rip ... just let them do whatever they want. I think that does have the risk of increased bills and reduced reliability."
Under the framework, data centre owners or their customers will have to buy Renewable Electricity Guarantee of Origin certificates, proving they are funding new clean supply rather than drawing on what already exists.
They will also pay their full share of connection costs and cut demand when the grid is strained.
Legislation is targeted for early next year.
Acting Opposition Leader Jane Hume said the conditions would send investors elsewhere.
"If we start putting unrealistic impositions on new data centre investors, particularly trying to make them make Chris Bowen's 82 per cent renewable energy target ... that's just going to turn investors away," she told reporters in Western Australia.
Opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan said developers should choose their own energy mix.
There are more than 160 data centres operating in Australia and another 90 in development, a number expected to at least double within four years.
The states will get their meeting later this month.
Mr Bowen has already published the result.