South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas says he’s seriously considering reverting to having some state-owned power assets, 24 years after the Electricity Trust of South Australia was privatised.

Mr Malinauskas said Western Australia was the only state which had been smart and kept its electricity assets under government ownership, and the “disconcerting” forecasts in the federal budget about energy prices rising by 56 per cent over two years meant that urgent action was needed to try to protect households and businesses.