South Australia's massive blackout last year is emblematic of the bad decisions and policymaking woes affecting the state, the politician who believes he can fix it says.
But Nick Xenophon, who is about to return to state politics after a decade in federal parliament, says the SA government's 50 per cent renewable energy target does not need to be wound back.
"You don't have to wind back an aspiration but you need to have smart policies to reduce the price of power," he told Sky News on Sunday.
That policy should be a national emissions intensity scheme or the "second-best option" of a clean energy target as proposed by Chief Scientist Alan Finkel, he says.
Senator Xenophon cited the September 2016 blackout that left the whole of South Australia in darkness after a major storm as the event that prompted him to think about shifting back to state politics for next year's SA election.
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He said on Sunday the blackout happened due to a failure of planning at state and federal level.
"I think that's emblematic of policy failures and failures of the state government to implement good policies in a proper fashion," he said.
"There was a haste in moving ahead with renewables in South Australia without backing up the grid."
