As power bills surge, people are being told to shop around for cheaper deals.

But if you live in an apartment block switching electricity providers can be a confusing, painstaking process with large hidden costs.

Melbourne resident Jeremie Renard lives in a building with 175 apartments and for two years has been trying to change over from power provider WIN Connect.

WIN Connect is one of Australia's largest providers of embedded networks, which is where a private company powers multiple properties in the same building.

What is an embedded network? A company is contracted to provide a private energy network to an apartment block

A company is contracted to provide a private energy network to an apartment block The power is bought in bulk from grid at a single meter point and sold to occupants through sub meters

The power is bought in bulk from grid at a single meter point and sold to occupants through sub meters Metering and infrastructure provided by company reduces costs for developer but ties occupants to long contracts

Metering and infrastructure provided by company reduces costs for developer but ties occupants to long contracts Customers can be charged for switching electricity suppliers on their own and will still get service charges

Customers can be charged for switching electricity suppliers on their own and will still get service charges All metering needs to be changed if whole building changes supplier

"It is quite difficult as you need to assess who the meters belong to and you either need to buy them back or get new ones," Mr Renard said.

"You need to hire lawyers to help, it's extremely complex and time consuming."

Mr Renard said residents in his West Melbourne building will have to pay $50,000 to replace the metering if they switch energy providers, but will save money in the long run.

"We looked at the savings and just for the electricity it could be $40,000 per year. In two years you are already making a profit," he said.

WIN Connect's contract with the building has been in place since 2009, and states "we have the right to remove all hardware after providing you with the opportunity to purchase all or part of the hardware".

Mr Renard, who is the Owners Corporation committee chair, said his building has to wait for the existing five-year contract to expire before it switched providers.

Urgent reform needed 'before it's too late'

An embedded network essentially involves a contract between the building owners, sometimes the developer, and an energy retailer to supply power to those living in the building.

Developers save costs by contracting electricity companies to supply the infrastructure and the metering throughout an apartment complex.

Apartment owners may be unaware of the lengths it may take to switch companies. ( ABC News: Elise Pianegonda )

In return, the energy company is contracted to provide power to the whole building, which can tie customers to lengthy contracts, some as long as 20 years.

Under the contract, the company managing the embedded network can set prices on electricity tariffs, and if the agreement is terminated they may remove the meters from the building.

Strata lawyer Tom Bacon said with the explosion in apartment living and rising energy costs, there was an urgent need for reform to prevent electricity infrastructure being privately owned.

Mr Bacon said while embedded networks operated on the presumption of lower costs, the power companies could charge any fees they liked and trap customers within the network.

"Unless there is urgent reform, not next month, not next year, but right now then it is going to be too late, he said.

Mr Bacon said high-rise dwellers would often discover they were caught up in lengthy contracts they did not know existed.

"The capital costs of having to pay for the retrospective installation of meters and conduit throughout the building is prohibitively expensive," Mr Bacon said.

Shop owner slugged with 60pc bill increase

Fitzroy foods store owner Meridith Stevens is also struggling to switch providers after being hit with a 60 per cent increase to her power bill.

While her usage has dropped slightly, her latest bill jumped from $1,000 to $1,600, although she was offered a 25 per cent pay-on-time discount.

"At first I thought it was a mistake and then they said, 'No it's not a mistake, we have increased our rates'," Ms Stevens said.

The business owner is finding it hard to absorb the costs after already cutting staff hours to stay afloat.

Ms Stevens said her main problem in finding a cheaper electricity deal is that her shop is part of an embedded network run by Plan Energy.

Meridith Stevens said she was struggling with the costs of her business power bills. ( ABC News: Danielle Bonica )

She said she had hit dead ends with other retail providers, who said they cannot help her due to the existing embedded network.

"They won't even give me a quote," Ms Stevens said.

"I can't seem to go anywhere else."

Embedded networks are exempt from most national energy consumer protection laws.

The Australian Energy Market Commission is currently drafting its recommendations for changes to put before the COAG Energy Council, after a review found many embedded network customers were not receiving better prices and were less able to change supplier.

Victoria has made some changes in the past 18 months to give customers in embedded networks greater protection, including a register to see exactly who their provider is and better access to the state's energy and water ombudsman.

Gerard Brody from the Consumer Action Law Centre agrees changes are needed.

"It can be really tough to get out of an embedded network because the meters may not be compliant to access a competitive deal directly from a retailer," he said.

"It would be much fairer if developers or property managers installed compliant meters to begin with, so people could choose another energy retailer which may have a more competitive price."

In a statement Plan Energy said the closure of the Hazelwood Power Station was a major factor in its price hike.

Despite Ms Stevens complaint, the company maintained it was easy for its customers to change providers.

"When the request to opt out is made, we generate a [National Meter Identifier] so the customer is then visible to the market. Plan Energy does not charge any fees for a customer to opt out," the company said.

In a statement, WIN Connect said in cases where an owner's corporation chose to switch providers, it understood the incoming company would absorb the costs without passing it onto the customer.