AGL’s coal implosion shows what a disorderly transition to clean energy looks like

AGL’s Loy Yang coal-fired power station in Victoria. The company has abandoned plans to demerge its coal-focused electricity generation business, while chief executive Graeme Hunt and three board members are headed for the exits. Photograph: John W Banagan/Getty Images

The spectacular implosion at AGL Energy, Australia’s biggest corporate greenhouse gas polluter, has been years in the making and should have ramifications across Australia’s political and business classes.

The short story is that this is what a disorderly transition to a clean economy looks like – the kind that we have long been warned will happen if governments don’t plan for the future.