Losing cheap power is a "national insanity" that would destroy Australia's only manufacturing advantage, former prime minister Tony Abbott says.
He's worried the coalition's national energy guarantee, which is being agreed to with the states, will mean the government "will do things that we would rather not do".
"Let's face it, the only comparable advantage we have ever had in manufacturing is cheap power and we are destroying it and it is an act of national insanity," Mr Abbott told 2GB radio on Wednesday.
The backbencher wants any agreement with the states on energy policy to go through the coalition party room before it becomes law.
"There needs to be a proper internal process if people are going to wholeheartedly support any policy that we take forward," he said.
Mr Abbott raised the issue in the coalition party room on Tuesday, but Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg said the policy going to state governments was the same one that's gone through the party room once already.
The minister said the plan would come back to the party once it was ready to be made law.
The energy minister also said he expected power prices in Queensland to drop soon, while NSW and South Australia will stay relatively flat.
"We're through the worst of it, I think," Mr Frydenberg told the party room.
Federal, state and territory energy ministers are set to hold a phone hook-up in June to discuss the progress of the detailed design of the national energy guarantee.
A final decision on the design is expected in August.
