Malcolm Turnbull and the South Australian Government need to stop looking to gas as a saviour for our energy crisis and instead make meaningful changes to lower power bills for households and small businesses, the Australian Greens say. They have called for the government to put in place powers to pause LNG exports when peak demand requires gas to be available domestically.

Elon Musk's proposal to solve South Australia’s energy crisis with battery storage is the game changer our state needs to switch back on, Australian Greens Senator for South Australia Sarah Hanson-Young says.

“I'm not a gambling woman, but what do we have to lose here? Blackouts, expensive power bills, or cheap and clean renewable energy with reliable battery storage - the answer is staring us in the face,” Senator Hanson-Young said.

SA Power Networks has admitted to staying quiet for a week and a half on a software glitch that saw an additional 60,000 South Australian homes out of power during load shedding this month, following intense questioning from Greens Senator for South Australia Sarah Hanson-Young at today’s ‘Senate Select Committee into the Resilience of Electricity Infrastructure in a Warming World’ hearing in Adelaide.

Modernising the energy grid and investing in storage technology is the only way to future-proof South Australia’s supply of electricity following more than a decade of disastrous privatisation, the Australian Greens have said.

“The situation in South Australia is an extraordinary example of failed privatisation,” South Australian Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

“Our state has been let down, time and time again. We need to look at developments in storage technology and invest in the Solar Thermal Power Station in Port Augusta to future proof our network.

The Australian Greens are calling for the return of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s backbone and resolve on climate policy – and the reward is lower power prices and a healthier environment for future generations.

“The Prime Minister appears to have again misplaced his backbone after uttering the words ‘emissions intensity scheme’ this week,” Greens Senator for South Australia, Sarah Hanson-Young said.

The potential for an Australian Battery-Boom will be analysed after the Australian Greens established an inquiry into the ‘Resilience of Electricity Infrastructure in a Warming World’.

“Severe storms have battered the southern states in recent weeks and we’ve seen the supply of energy in South Australia take a hit as a result,” Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

“The relentless march of dangerous global warming means that these sorts of extreme weather events will only become more common in the future.

The Senate has supported a motion endorsing South Australia’s renewable energy target, despite efforts from the Turnbull government to talk it down.

“The Senate has endorsed South Australia’s renewable energy target and the growth of wind and solar in our state,” Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

“The fact that the government voted against this motion tells you all you need to know about their contempt for jobs and renewable energy in South Australia.

South Australian Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has called on the Prime Minister to drop his baseless attack on the South Australian renewable energy industry.

“South Australia is leading the nation in tackling dangerous global warming and renewable energy has brought thousands of jobs to our state,” Senator Hanson-Young said.

“The government needs to give up its nakedly ideological attacks on South Australia and renewable energy.

“Acting as unofficial spokespeople for the coal industry, Malcolm Turnbull and his Energy Minister are letting our state down.

South Australian Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has said that the release of the preliminary Australian Energy Market Operator report into the SA storms has shown that renewable energy was not to blame for the state-wide blackout and will move a motion, supporting renewable energy in her state, when the Senate next sits.

“This report makes it crystal clear that the storm caused South Australia’s blackout. Anyone saying otherwise is only doing so for cheap political reasons,” Senator Hanson-Young said.