The Turnbull government faces an uphill battle getting states to sign up to its new energy plan, as Labor premiers savage it as a capitulation to Tony Abbott and victory for the coal industry.

The government will need all the national electricity market states – NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT – to agree to its national energy guarantee to implement it.

The plan to force energy companies to meet mandated standards of reliability and emissions reduction will require changes to national electricity law, which is state-based legislation that sets the rules for the market.

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg briefed his state counterparts on the policy over the phone on Tuesday ahead of a face-to-face COAG meeting planned for late November. But initial reactions were not positive.​