So far this year, NSW has sourced just 8.8 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources including rooftop solar, barely half that of Victoria's 15.8 per cent and a quarter of South Australia's 36 per cent, according to energy consultants Pitt & Sherry.

Last week, Daniel Andrews, Victoria's Labor premier, announced plans for his state to aim for 40 per cent renewable energy in its electricity sector by 2025.

Also last week, Mr Andrews' Labor counterpart in SA, Jay Weatherill, committed to study a new power grid link with NSW to help reach his state's target of 50 per cent by 2025.

"It would allow us to export more renewable energy as we have an excess," Mr Weatherill told Fairfax Media.

Even laggard Queensland, which has virtually no installed wind turbine capacity and sources just 4.7 per cent of its electricity from renewable energy, has a 2030 target of 50 per cent – in line with federal Labor's goal. The Turnbull government has yet to reveal a post-2020 target.

"NSW and Victoria have almost identical amounts of hydro, so the difference is attributable to wind," Hugh Saddler, Pitt & Sherry's principal consultant, said. "It's certainly not because of an inferior wind resource."

The Clean Energy Council noted NSW has had wind farm regulations in draft form for four years.

That uncertainty has added to investor unease caused by two years of wrangling by the Abbott government that ended up slashing the 2020 Renewable Energy Target (RET) by about 20 per cent.

Of the $1.18 billion invested in large-scale renewable energy in 2015 in Australia all but $15 million was the result of government directed projects, such as the ACT's, or from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance figures cited in the council's 2015 report.

To meet the reduced RET will require as many as 50 new large-scale wind or solar farms by 2020, according to the council. NSW now has 15 such projects and 17 in Victoria and SA.

The Baird government has a target of sourcing 20 per cent of its renewable energy by 2020-21 but has "no leadership and no commitment" to get there, Penny Sharpe, Labor's environment spokeswoman, said.

"In NSW, all we get is obstruction on renewables and neglect of our responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," she said.

"Let's not forget the NSW Liberals recently reopened the debate on whether the science of climate change was settled," Ms Sharpe said, referring to a motion passed at the party's state council earlier this year for the Turnbull government to review climate science.

Darren Miller at home with his solar panels. Photo: Ben Rushton

Energy Minister Anthony Roberts, though, said NSW was "open for business" in renewables, and had spent almost $65 million for two AGL solar farms at Broken Hill and Nyngan. Two wind farms with 420-megawatt (MW) capacity won planning approval in April and May.

"Currently there are around 2800 MW of approved renewable energy projects in NSW, with a further 4600 MW progressing through the planning system," Mr Roberts said.

"This represents $11 billion of potential investment and enough capacity to meet the Renewable Energy Target by 2020."

Greens energy spokesman Jeremy Buckingham said NSW should follow Victoria and the ACT in setting ambitious targets and take out coal-fired power. The ACT is aiming for 100 per cent renewable energy by 2020.

"It's clear that employment and economic activity will go to those jurisdictions with policies to support renewable energy, so it is a real shame Mike Baird is choosing to preference the coal sector which is in structural decline," Mr Buckingham said.

The author travelled to SA as a guest of Brand SA.