A year on from the statewide blackout which focused national attention on energy policy, the South Australian government says it has done all it can to keep the lights on this summer.
Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis says he can't control the weather but the state's problems with power outages have formed the basis for a $550 million plan to become energy self-sufficient.
"Fundamentally, 12 months ago we were a net importer of energy, today we're a net exporter of energy," he said on Thursday.
"Construction of the Tesla grid-scale battery is well underway, a new solar thermal plant announced for Port Augusta and our state owned back-up power plant is on track to be in place by December 1."
The government has also introduced more powers for the minister to intervene in the electricity market in times of emergency.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Mr Koutsantonis used the anniversary of the blackout to again criticise the federal government's response to the "natural disaster" that caused the system outage.
"Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull should apologise on behalf of the federal government for using the statewide blackout as an excuse to ridicule South Australia," Mr Koutsantonis said.
"Debate in federal parliament consisted of members of the government making jokes about SA at a time when many households and businesses were without power."
SA Opposition Leader Steven Marshall said the government's energy plan had done nothing but increase power prices by 20 per cent.
"Their deliberate policy drove affordable, reliable base load from the South Australian grid and now we have the most unreliable and the most expensive power in the entire nation," he said.
On September 28 last year, at least seven tornadoes ripped through the state, tearing more than 20 transmission towers from the ground and bringing down major power lines.
SA was also hit by about 80,000 lightning strikes with some damaging power generation facilities.
The storms caused automatic emergency systems to sever the electricity interconnector with Victoria, cutting power to hundreds of thousands of South Australian properties.
Services to metropolitan Adelaide were largely restored within hours but some areas of the state remained without electricity for several days as repairs were made.
The incident was eventually ruled a freak weather event but some chose to point to SA's high reliance on renewable energy as a source of concern, arguing it rendered the energy grid unreliable.
