There has been a massive jump in electricity bills in Victoria, with retailers charging more than triple what they were six years ago, a new report has found.

It also said some customers paid more in the fixed charges component of bills than the actual cost of the electricity they used.

The report, conducted by Carbon and Energy Markets and commissioned by The Brotherhood of St Laurence, said charges had risen 212 per cent since 2008.

The report compared the wholesale electricity price with charges later added by retailers.

In 2014, the wholesale price estimate for electricity was about $250, but with the added retail charges the average bill actually came to $421.

Former deputy premier John Thwaites is now the chairperson of the Brotherhood's energy, equity and climate change program.

He said the increase in extra charges from retailers was for sending bills and marketing.

"A rise of 212 per cent is just totally unacceptable," Mr Thwaites told AM.

"In many states we've seen a big rise in the overall electricity bill, largely because of network costs, that is the poles and wires.

"In Victoria, network costs and wholesale generation of electricity haven't risen in cost much, the big price rise has been in the charges that retailers put on households for sending out the bills and marketing their products."

The Energy Retailers Association of Australia's interim chief executive, Alex Fraser, said some extra costs were unavoidable.

"There are a number of costs which are specific to the Victorian market, which includes metering and infrastructure charges - all of which are out of retailers' hands," Ms Fraser said.

Fixed retail charges need regulating: Thwaites

Mr Thwaites said the fixed charge component of the bills was most worrying.

"The fixed charge proportion of the bill is very high, 30 to 40 per cent, and that particularly hits low income households who tend to use less electricity," he said.

"That means the fixed charge is a greater proportion of their bill than it is for wealthier households.

"Fixed charges also mean that there's no incentive to be energy efficient."

The Brotherhood of St Laurence called for an urgent review of the electricity retail market by the Victorian Government and the state's Essential Services Commission.

"[We need to establish] more transparency about what retail costs are, and potentially look at some form of limit or regulation over high fixed retail charges," Mr Thwaites said.

"Interestingly we've seen big price rises in government-owned distributors in NSW and Queensland, but the real issue is for Victoria and for its deregulated market, how much are the retailers charging?

"Around Australia we're seeing some states now moving to a deregulated retail electricity market, and the question will have to be asked for them: will prices go up there as much as prices have gone up in Victoria?"

The Victorian Government has already asked the Essential Services Commission to review the financial hardship programs of energy companies.

Energy and Resources Minister Lily D'Ambrosio said she wanted to examine reports on retail charges before deciding whether to order a wider market review.

"If we find that there are serious discrepancies in terms of the retail margins, retail energy margins, then we need to look carefully at what are the causes of that and what are the possible solutions," she said.

"We take very seriously the cost pressures on Victorian families and we will move fairly quickly to get to the bottom of this."

Energy retailers 'fleecing' struggling Victorians

The report also found the number of electricity disconnections in Victoria had increased fivefold since 2008, to more than 34,448 each year.

Youth worker Les Twentyman said high fixed prices meant scaling back power usage saved little money.

"People [are] unable to feed themselves because they can't refrigerate food and that sort of thing," Mr Twentyman said.

"This is a really, really tough winter. When you've got power bills that are basically escalating, those people that are on welfare or wages that are not ... in line with the cost of living, these people are having their services cut off.

"The community of Victoria, particularly the poor, have become prisoners and are being forced into third-world living situations.

"There'd probably be thousands of people ... living in cars or living in squats, and considering how cold it is, that puts them very much at risk of being killed, because if they're in a squat then they're cold, they're going to light fires," he said.

"I think that the Andrews Government, which is supposed to be a government with a social conscience, has got to look at this and start reining back these corporates that are fleecing people," he said.