Federal Labor hasn't decided whether to go back to the renewable energy target negotiating table.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt wrote to his Labor counterpart Mark Butler at the weekend requesting a meeting before Christmas, with no conditions on negotiations.
But Mr Butler says Labor is yet to decide whether to accept, and any talks would be "fruitless" unless the government is prepared to budge on scaling back the RET.
"Industry and its finance backers have all said that no deal is better than a bad deal here," he told ABC radio.
"The government has got to show that they're not committed to a bad deal."
The Abbott government wants to cut 41,000 gigawatt hour target to around 27,000, claiming the legislated figure would represent 27 per cent of energy use by 2020 instead of the bipartisan level of 20 per cent.
The opposition quit negotiations in November claiming there was no prospect of an agreement with a government deeply dug in on its plan to slash the target.
The stalemate is causing uncertainty within the industry and prompted concerns consumers may pay the price for any penalties imposed on it if the target isn't met.
Mr Hunt said he would also reach out to crossbench senators, who have drafted their own RET plan that would effectively kill the need for new investment in renewables - a key aim of the policy.
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