West Australians appeared to be encountering mounting difficulties in meeting their electricity bills even as the state's electricity distributor, Synergy, has disclosed that unpaid power bills rose to $8 million last year and the company currently maintains collectibles up to $9 million.

Company chairman Jim Mitchell said that Synergy has so far allowed $8 million in payment extensions over the past 12 months, which indicates that many more residents are struggling following two years of continued rise in electricity cost.

Mr Mitchell said that the situation has been dire and the company is doing its best to help its distressed customers even to the point that Synergy is now controlling its own cost.

He said that it all boils down to "the company buying energy a whole lot cheaper. It's us providing or getting with the social services agencies like WACOSS to come up with a financial hardships policy."

This year alone, the average household would have to pay additional $300 in power bills but Energy Minister Peter Collier said that financial assistance programs are available to assist those who are in need and suggesting that "people who are having difficulty paying their bills should contact Synergy so we can assist them as best we can."

Mr Collier added that WA residents can look forward for a reprieve as no major increases on power bills are being lined up so far.

For his part, Premier Colin Barnett said that struggling residents should avail of programs reserved for them and contact the hardship utility grants scheme as he urged families "if you're concerned about parents, elderly relatives, please make sure that they're well looked after and that they're warm in these cold conditions."

The past fortnight have seen the temperature in Perth falling into an average of 1.3 degrees and charity organisations had expressed concerns that the biting cold snap only emphasised the potential toll of recent rises in utility costs.

The St Vincent de Paul Society's Lucinda Adar said that the situation all amounted to a financial decision at this point, people just could not afford to use heaters and "increases in utilities has hit many people hard, not only the elderly and we've definitely seen a spike in calls for help."

Ms Adar said that for the past two months, the society received about 3000 calls for emergency support "and interestingly enough, 34 per cent of people are looking for assistance with electricity bills and utilities."