Energy companies won't get investment certainty for new projects until at least April, but Chief Scientist Alan Finkel says the Turnbull government's new energy policy is too important to rush.
He wants to see the details of the new plan, saying getting it right is crucially important for Australian households and businesses.
"As long as there's delay, that slows down the planning people need to do and in some cases the implementation, but the need to do proper modelling transcends (that)," Dr Finkel told a conference in Canberra on Wednesday.
At a recent Council of Australian Governments energy ministers meeting the states agreed to investigate the proposed national energy guarantee, but they won't meet again until April, when more details are set to be revealed.
"I think COAG has done absolutely the right thing," Dr Finkel said.
"It's too soon to make a decision (on the policy). The work has to be done."
The government dumped Dr Finkel's proposed clean energy target - amid disquiet from conservative MPs - in favour of the national energy guarantee.
The new policy will require power companies to get a percentage of their energy from "reliable" sources like coal, hydro and gas, and another portion from lower emissions sources.
"We would be further along if they'd accepted everything in the Finkel plan, but..." Dr Finkel said to laughter from the crowd.
