Threat of power blackouts angers south-west Victorian MP

Member for Polwarth Richard Riordan said there had been "dire warnings" about potential blackouts across Victoria and farmers were buying generators to make sure they weren't caught short.

"Victoria's energy stability is heading into a crisis mode," he told state parliament.

The Australian Energy Market Operator has warned of potential reliability problems in Victoria this coming summer with issues expected to last throughout the decade ahead.

There are calls for imminent and urgent investment with AEMO warning the reliability of the National Electricity Market would be at risk over the next decade.

AEMO chief executive officer Daniel Westerman said this year's report highlighted the pace of Australia's energy transition and the urgency needed to deliver new investment to ensure reliable, affordable and cleaner energy for consumers.

Mr Riordan said south-west Victoria had five or six benign summers but if the heatwaves of 2007 and 2009 that stretched the system were to happen this summer it would put things under pressure.

The dairy, agriculture manufacturing and timber industries all relied on endless, reliable, available and accessible energy.

"It's simply not going to be good enough," he said.

"As we come to this summer when the wind comes into its lighter patterns, less energy is available into the market and we simply cannot leave our tourism communities without power along the coast.

"Every day lost in kitchens and along the tourist road is money and income lost to people at the crucial busy times."

Mr Riordan said dairy farms needed power to operate, and many farmers had purchased diesel-powered generators to ensure they could still milk cows when the power goes out.

"The energy crisis is real. This government is asleep at the wheel. We need a policy that works," he said.

Mr Riordan said the government had failed to systematically organise the way renewable energy would power the state into the future.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the AEMO report was "very conservative", and hadn't taken into account key energy projects in the pipeline, which includes six major solar farm and battery projects and a further 3500MW of additional storage projects already under planning approval.

But Mr Riordan said he wasn't aware of any projects that would come online before summer.

He said the deal the state government did with Loy Yang A last week to keep it open until 2035 was partial recognition of the problem but they need to do more.

"This is not just magically kick your fingers and all this renewable energy comes online," he said.

Mr Riordan said he was not against renewables but he was arguing for commonsense with realistic milestones for transition. "We all know a shortage of supply leads to an increase in price," he said.