A Liberal MP is urging the Government to settle on a higher renewable energy target (RET) to prevent further job losses across the sector.

Companies from the trade-exposed energy intensive industry and the clean energy sector have told 7.30 they want the major parties to settle on a final target of 33,000 gigawatt hours (GWh).

The Member for Wannon, Dan Tehan, agrees and believes the Government should resolve the impasse swiftly.

"[My constituents] have been saying that politics is put in front of jobs and what I have been reassuring them is that, as far as I'm concerned, what I want to see is jobs put before politics," Mr Tehan told 7.30.

The RET mandates that 20 per cent of all Australia's energy come from renewable sources by 2020.

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The current target is legislated at 41,000 GWh, but electricity demand has dropped dramatically in recent years, meaning the amount generated will far exceed 20 per cent.

It is why the Coalition and Labor have been at loggerheads for months over what the target should be.

The Coalition will not budge from 32,000 GWh, while Labor is fixed on 33,500 GWh.

Businesses in 'state of limbo' as result of impasse

The community of Portland, in south-west Victoria, is fed up with the political stone-throwing and the latest push for agreement has been pushed by two of the region's key businesses, Keppel Prince Engineering and Portland Aluminium.

Both companies rely on the RET debate being resolved to prevent further job losses.

The general manager of Keppel Prince, Steve Garner, said his company — which builds wind turbine towers — is in a "state of limbo".

Keppel Prince lost $6 million in the last year and Mr Garner was forced to lay off 100 workers last October.

"They [the workers] really do become family and it was tragic," Mr Garner told 7.30.

"Not just for me but for the managers and the supervisors who had to go up to those people and talk to them.

"And we see these people around town all the time and it's difficult. It really does hurt.

"My greatest desire is to get this business back to where it should be and to create those jobs again."

Peter Chellis from Alcoa's Portland aluminium smelter agreed, backing the push for a 33,000 GWh deal.

"It's time to come back together, get an agreement," Mr Chellis told 7.30.

"Thirty-three-thousand gigawatt hours is a reasonable compromise and it'd then give us some certainty," he said.

Both businesses believe key players around Australia will agree to the compromise and Mr Tehan said there was strong support.

"What I am hearing from the Clean Energy Council, on that side, is that they could live with 33,000 [GWh]," Mr Tehan said.

"So what I would like to see is both sides of politics come to the table, to see if they could resolve the issue to around that figure."