Industrial users of energy say dialled-back forecasts for the uptake of electric vehicles do nothing to remove worries that there won’t be enough new clean energy generation capacity added in time to prevent price spikes when coal stations close.

The fact that emergency reserves are being sought to help cover demand this coming summer in Victoria, NSW and South Australia showed how fraught the supply-demand balance was, said Andrew Richards, who heads an industry group representing large industrial users of electricity and gas.