The Coalition party room is set to back the Government's National Energy Guarantee (NEG) plan at a meeting today, but opponents led by former prime minister Tony Abbott will argue against it.

Key points: Part of the National Energy Guarantee's aim is to ensure Australia holds up its end of the Paris climate change accord

Part of the National Energy Guarantee's aim is to ensure Australia holds up its end of the Paris climate change accord Tony Abbott signed that deal when he was PM, but now wants the Coalition to dump it

Tony Abbott signed that deal when he was PM, but now wants the Coalition to dump it Fellow backbencher Barnaby Joyce has also indicated he may cross the floor to vote against the NEG

In a positive sign for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull ahead of the party room meeting, the backbench energy committee endorsed the NEG after a two-hour Cabinet meeting.

Seven committee members voted in favour of the policy, Craig Kelly and Ken O'Dowd requested further discussions and Mr Abbott voted against it.

Business groups are maintaining pressure on the Coalition to support the plan.

Bluescope Steel CEO Mark Vassella said it provided some certainty around reliability and affordability, which meant there would be a boost to investment.

Earlier, Mr Abbott made a last-ditch bid to derail the NEG.

He accused the Government of developing an emissions "obsession" and pushed for it to abandon the Paris agreement signed when he was in office.

Coalition MPs will discuss the NEG at a party room meeting on Tuesday, after Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg met with his state counterparts on Friday.

Business groups and industry groups have urged the Coalition to back the plan, saying it would lower power prices and improve reliability.

Mr Abbott said on Monday he disagreed with those groups lobbying on behalf of business.

"The business groups are being polite, they're being polite to the Government because they appreciate that Labor would be even worse," he said.

As prime minister, Mr Abbott signed up to the Paris agreement that set emissions reductions targets including for Australia.

But he now argues Australia should "get out of Paris".

During Question Time on Monday, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was asked about Mr Abbott's intervention and appeared to address the backbencher when he said he knew what happened, "when you allow ideology and idiocy to take charge of energy policy".

Mr Abbott then returned fire, telling the ABC's 7.30 program, "idiocy is doing more of the same and expecting a different result".

"We are going to get more of the same — more of prices going through the roof and more blackouts," he said.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott is locking horns with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull over the National Energy Guarantee. ( ABC News: Adam Kennedy )

Abbott borrows Howard's speech to make his point

Mr Abbott won the 2013 election after campaigning on a frequently repeated slogan about axing the carbon tax, and his government subsequently scrapped the carbon price.

Since then, Malcolm Turnbull won the 2016 election, but Mr Abbott is attacking the NEG by skipping that campaign and referring to his own election three years earlier.

"It's a bit sad that a government that was elected promising to end Labor's emissions obsession, to abolish the carbon tax, now seems to be developing emissions obsessions of its own," he said.

Mr Abbott then reached back nearly two decades to refer to a campaign speech John Howard gave as prime minister in 2001, when he famously said: "We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come."

Mr Howard was referring to asylum seekers arriving by boat, but Mr Abbott on Monday adopted the phrase to cover his concerns about the NEG.

"This is why it's so important to get out of Paris, to say that we will control what happens in this country and the circumstances under which it happens," Mr Abbott said.

Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce said no one in a pub cares about the Paris Agreement. ( ABC News: Adam Kennedy )

Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has also criticised the Paris agreement.

"People in the Kmart, people in the local pub, they don't care about the Paris agreement, it means nothing to them, it has no purpose," he said.

Mr Joyce and Mr Abbott are both signalling they could cross the floor to vote against the NEG when legislation comes into the Parliament.