The fact is that successive governments - particularly Coalition governments - have been incapable of formulating a national policy framework on energy due to political hazards.

The resultant energy crisis - and the massive energy price rises consumers are having to endure - have galvanised the government into a short term response, which has culminated in the absurd spectacle this week of Turnbull attempting to shame or browbeat AGL into extending the life of its NSW coal-fired power station for five years beyond its slated closure.

Turnbull suggested on Tuesday that Vesey was open to extending the life of AGL's NSW power station Liddell or to selling it to another operator.

Vesey had a somewhat different interpretation of his conversations with the prime minister, tweeting on Tuesday:

On Wednesday, he followed up with a statement saying that "AGL will continue to engage with governments, regulators and other stakeholders to deliver appropriate outcomes" but had "made no commitment to sell the Liddell Power Station nor to extend its life beyond 2022".

The company also restated its original position that "AGL has committed to the closure of the Liddell power station in 2022 which is the end of its operating life. AGL provided this advance notice in April 2015 to avoid the volatility created by the sudden exit from National Electricity market of other coal fired power stations."

If AGL can't make the economics of keeping the plant open beyond 2022, it's hard to see how other another company could - unless the government provided some financial enticements.

The cost of renewables technology is coming down, but coal is not.

Turnbull has been in regular contact with energy companies over the past month attempting to extract ways to ease the cost of power bills - the latest of which will force energy retailers to deliver more transparent bills and guide consumers on how to achieve better deals.

Nothing wrong with that - other than it does little to fix the underlying problem.

Unlike the government, Vesey has maintained a consistent strategy for many years: AGL wants to get out of the coal-fired generation business over a long and well telegraphed time frame.

Since 2015, Vesey has been telling who will listen that the company will be closing all coal fired power utilities by 2050.

The company wants to invest in the more capital efficient and cleaner technologies, rather than spend more on less capital efficient dirty dinosaurs of power generation.

In comments made as recently as July about the eventual shutting down of Liddell, AGL reiterated that it would "not build, finance or acquire new conventional coal-fired power stations", but instead "prioritise investment in renewables and complementary near-zero emission technologies".

"We've had a look at clean coal and have a research site with the CSIRO at one of our coal-fired plants, so we could find out whether the theory stacks up in practice," it said.

"So far, the science does, but the economics doesn't."

AGL research found that there were "some risks associated with ruling out further investment in coal", but "bigger risks in sticking with it".

"We also found that there are overwhelming opportunities in clean energy and we support Australia's international commitments to cut back on carbon emissions.

"The best way to put downward pressure on prices is to increase investment and increase supply, and the best way to unlock that investment is to create a policy framework that most people agree is the best way to modernise our electricity system.' Vesey wrote in an opinion piece back in June.

The government has had ample notice to sort out a coherent policy and encourage investment in newer forms of energy generation.

Instead, Turnbull has resorted to an attempt to shame AGL for its profit worshipping, saying that "Mr Vesey has obligations to his shareholders. My commitment is to all Australians - families, businesses big and small - to deliver affordable and reliable electricity."