Federal Labor is considering doing a deal with the government to exclude the aluminium industry from the renewable energy target.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten confirmed he is open to the idea of treating the sector as a "special case" given the amount of people it employs.
Mr Shorten said he had not reached a final decision but had been meeting with the Clean Energy Council, which reportedly backs the exemption.
"We've agreed to engage in discussions on the basis that the government doesn't try and wreck the renewable energy target," Mr Shorten told reporters in Sydney.
The government is considering a review of the RET, which mandates that 20 per cent of all electricity comes from renewables by 2020.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has previously blamed the target for rising power prices in Australia.
The hand-picked panel's review calls for the scheme to be amended by either closing the large-scale component to new investors like wind farms or by setting targets based on electricity demand.
Both ideas have riled the clean energy sector, which has warned the recommendations could gut future investment in renewables.
Australian Greens leader Christine Milne accused Labor of "browning down" the RET in a union-driven deal.
"You exempt the aluminium smelters and they'll be using more energy from coal-fired generation - that is not a great outcome," she said.
The Greens want to keep the RET in place as is.
The policy has doubled Australia's renewable energy capacity but the review found it was a "high cost approach" to do so.
By AAP
