The Money, Advice and Budgeting Service has urged the Government to put in place regulation to protect more than 100,000 customers who have fallen into arrears with their energy bills.
Michael Culloty, spokesman for the budgeting service, said tougher regulation is now needed to cope with the problem. He said disconnection should also only be used as a last resort by utility companies for domestic customers.
"We have seen customers with bills of €280 who have been disconnected and then having a bill of €800 on top of them for reconnection, disconnection and security deposits," he said.
"Disconnection, due to its social effects, must really be a last resort and not a mechanism for collecting arrears," he added.
He said a marketplace where there was a fight for customers could become "un-consumer friendly" very quickly unless it was properly regulated. He said in the past there had been little concern about consumer protection.
It emerged this week that about 90,000 ESB customers and 23,000 Bord Gáis customers have entered into payment plans since the beginning of the year.
More than 16,000 Bord Gáis customers were 120 days in arrears with their bills.
The company has been entering into payments plans with customers in arrears every five minutes, and 2,500 households had their electricity cut off every month this year.
The society of St Vincent de Paul said it was dealing with a staggering number of calls from people having problems paying their energy bills. It also criticised some utility firms for setting a minimum payment amount of €20 per month off a bill over the counter at post offices.
Eircom has recently the new minimum payment amount in an effort to reduce transaction costs. ESB is also considering doing the same.
However, NGOs such as St Vincent de Paul and Age Action have said this could negatively affect pensioners and people on low incomes who regularly pay €5 or €10 towards a bill when they collect pensions of benefits.
An ESB spokesman said the company was considering setting a minimum payment but no final decision had been taken. He also encouraged customers who could face problems paying a bill to engage with the firm as early as possible to agree a payment plan.