THE Energy and Water Ombudsman (EWOV) saw a rise in consumer complaints from Wangaratta and the North East in the past financial year.

EWOV, which handles, investigates and resolves complaints from Victorians in the electricity, gas and water sector, reported a downtick in statewide case numbers in the 2022-23 year, but Wangaratta bucked this trend, reporting a massive 105 per cent hike in cases.

Other North East communities also saw rises, with Benalla up by 25.58 per cent, Strathbogie Shire up by 20 per cent and Mansfield up by 13 per cent.

These spikes in cases were dominated by billing issues, including high bills, errors and tariff questions especially around electricity.

Ombudsman Catherine Wolthuizen said many billing cases had been triggered by increases in the price of electricity and gas announced earlier in the year.

“People often don't understand why the bill is so high and are worried about how they can afford it,” she said.

“They want their provider to either do another meter read or check there's no leak, or provide an explanation as to why their bill has gone up so much.

“These are all really valid questions for people to ask at a time when households are facing increasing cost of living in other areas.

“To see really high increases in some cases is very concerning [for consumers].

“People want an explanation so that they can either get an adjusted bill or manage how they use their electricity and gas to try and keep those costs low or switch to someone else if they think they can get a better deal somewhere else.”

These price increases were signalled by the energy regulator earlier in the year and retailors passed on the increases to customers.

“We saw notifications go out to Victorian households in June and July and we're hearing of increases of 20 to 25 per cent in some cases, which was sort of in line with what the regulator was signalling,” said Ms Wolthuizen.

“We also started to hear of increases of 50 and over 100 per cent.

“That's very concerning for people and it prompted a bit of activity of people looking for better prices elsewhere, which is good.

“We’re really seeing the impact of those higher energy prices flow through, causing anxiety and real life impact on the community.”

People can go to the Energy Compare website or the EWOW website.