The City of Greater Bendigo had the third highest rate of complaints about disconnection from gas and electricity in Victoria in 2017/18, behind only La Trobe and Wodonga.

Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria Cynthia Gebert said it was a reflection of the ongoing “energy affordability issues” which were taking a toll on lower income households, particularly in regional areas.

“There’s the ‘high bills’ which is one of your key complaint drivers and had a big increase, but you also have the collection cases which again is an indication of people struggling to pay,” she said.

“We are concerned that there is a specific energy affordability issue in the Bendigo region.”

High bill cases in Bendigo increased from 52 to 68, while disconnection cases increased from 78 to 99.

There was a dramatic increase in new connection cases, which increased from nine to 23.

The rate of disconnection cases was almost double in a number of regional areas compared with Melbourne.

Ms Gebert said while she could not comment specifically on government policy, there was a growing need for stakeholders to work closely together to find a solution to energy costs.

“Without wanting to fuel conversation about affordability, it does say – to me – a lot about customers being concerned about their capacity to pay,” she said.

“There’s a need for government, industry and the community sector to be working together on the problem.

“No one can solve energy affordability by themselves, it’s actually something that requires a collaborative effort from those different groups.”

The increase in complaints to the energy ombudsman was a reflected across the state, with an eight per cent increase.

The top complaint was about high bills, followed by disconnection issue and debt collection.

Ms Gebert encouraged customers to contact their energy companies as soon as possible if they are concerned about their ability to pay bills on time. She also said customers needed to ensure they were on bill options that suited their ability to pay on time and to consider making smaller transactions rather than quarterly.

The Energy and Water Ombudsman can be contacted on 1800 500 509.