More than 60 West Australian homes and businesses are having their electricity cut off on average each day for failing to pay their bills.
Electricity retailers Synergy and Horizon cut off more than 22,000 customers in the 12 months to the end of June, meaning disconnections for unpaid bills have more than doubled in just three years.
The figures mean Synergy disconnected around one in every 60 of its customers for unpaid bills in just 12 months.
The record number of disconnections has prompted concerns that low income earners have not coped with increases to power prices, with the WA Council of Social Services (WACOSS) leading calls for more to be done to help people who cannot pay their bills.
"People are having to make a choice between heating and eating," WACOSS acting chief executive Jennie Gray said.
"Community service organisations tell us that they are seeing people every day who cannot afford their electricity bills."
The McGowan Government faced heavy criticism for increasing power prices by 11 per cent and 7 per cent in its first two years, before imposing a more modest 1.75 per cent hike for 2019–20.
But Shadow Treasurer Dean Nalder said the ballooning number of power disconnections showed people could not cope with those previous hikes.
"There were 18 per cent of increases in two years at a time where peoples' salaries, at best, were going up by 1 per cent," Mr Nalder said.
"There are a lot of households and a lot of families out there who are really hurting."
Treasurer Ben Wyatt conceded disconnection was a drastic step, but said it was only done after repeated attempts to resolve the situation.
"Synergy go through quite a process, generally they have gone through a range of payment plans and a range of processes to get payment before someone has been disconnected," Mr Wyatt said.
Premier Mark McGowan said the Government had also taken steps to assist those struggling to pay bills, but admitted that was not always enough.
"We know that people do it tough, that is why we are trying to keep [power prices] down as much as possible," he said.
The Government has vowed to keep future power price rises lower than those imposed in its initial years, with Mr Wyatt saying the worst of the increases were over.
