New data shows extreme financial distress is the reason many Australians have their electricity disconnected, not the high cost of power alone.

Key points: Disconnections were linked to rising household budgets, the report found

Disconnections were linked to rising household budgets, the report found There was a wide variation in locations and income of households

There was a wide variation in locations and income of households Affluent inner-city suburbs of Melbourne and Sydney were identified

Modelling commissioned by St Vincent de Paul Society using AGL data looks at electricity disconnections in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and south-east Queensland.

It ranks the top 50 postcodes for each state, with towns in rural New South Wales and outer Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide suburbs showing the most disconnections over a three-year period.

Among the postcodes that had experienced large numbers of multiple disconnections in the three-year period, were Orange and Dubbo in New South Wales, Werribee and Corio to Melbourne's west, and Hebersham in western Sydney.

Gavin Dufty, St Vincent de Paul Society's manager of policy and research unit, said it showed the cost of housing, food and transport were making it difficult for people to pay their bills.

"We thought there would be a stronger relationship between energy price changes and disconnections. That doesn't appear to be the case," he told the ABC.

"I think the story out of this is that energy is just one part of a household budget and people struggle with mortgage costs, rental costs, transport costs and a number of other things."

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The disconnections data was modelled with Australian Bureau of Statistic (ABS) information to work out demographics of areas listed in the report.

Mr Dufty said there was a big variation in the locations, income and size of households facing financial stress.

"That's what was surprising when we went into the data, if you have a look at NSW, the rural and regional seems to be very over-represented compared to the other states," Mr Dufty said.

"In the other states, it was basically population-density based, so where there's more people there's more disconnections."

'Imagine being disconnected five times in three years'

South Australian Council of Social Service CEO Ross Womersley said some areas of his state identified as having large numbers of disconnections and were facing a "huge economic challenge".

"The northern suburbs of Adelaide for example, where we're seeing the closure of the car industry, obviously the impacts of that have already flowed through to our community," he told the ABC.

"It's been an area where we have known for a long time there are large numbers of people who are getting by on very low levels of income."

Mr Dufty said a major concern was the areas identified as experiencing "extreme fuel poverty" in areas of NSW, such as Dubbo and Orange.

"If you're looking at people in different postcodes getting disconnected five times in three years, and it's over 400 people in those postcodes, that's a pretty big number," he said.

"Imagine being disconnected five times in three years, that's the power on-off, on-off, obviously there's some entrenched fuel poverty there."

Some more affluent inner-city suburbs of Melbourne and Sydney were also identified, and Mr Dufty said in those locations some students or public housing tenants may be struggling to pay their electricity bills.

AGL will use data to 'target' vulnerable areas

AGL Energy's manager of consumer policy and programs Lauren Solomon said her company would use the data to target customers in disadvantaged areas.

"What it means for us is that we'll be much more active in our community outreach within those disadvantaged areas, running energy literacy sessions," she said.

John Bradley from the Energy Networks Association was surprised at the diverse locations of energy disconnections.

"It shows just how unpredictable and diverse the kind of situations that might lead to disconnection are, and that really means that you've got to have a support framework that works for those most in need," he said.

"So we support the recommendations for governments reviewing their concessions schemes, and moving to a model that's more like Victoria where there's a percentage-based concession scheme and it relates to the size of the electricity bill they receive."

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