Victorian power companies are adjusting their fees to account for over-spending in the rollout of smart meters.

Three out of five of the state's big energy firms have had requests to that Australian Energy Regulator approved, so they can now increase fees.

Smart meters are intended to give residents more control over their electricity usage while eliminating manual meter reading.

Power company Jemena will hike its fees by 17 per cent with a new charge of $226.

AusNet will increase its charge to $205 - up 28 per cent, United Energy's fee will increase by 9 per cent, but CitiPower and PowerCor will actually reduce their fees.

Jemena, AusNet and United Energy say changes to the Victorian Government scheme meant they were still “catching up on the rollout delays in 2013 [which] resulted in 2013 budget overspends,” according to documents lodged to the AER.

The Victorian Council of Social Service is concerned that the increases would be “devastating” for households.

“We know families are making choices about putting food on the table or being able to pay their energy bills,” VCOSS CEO Emma King told the ABC.

“Now that we're hitting summer, families will chose not to use their air conditioners in heatwaves because they're going to want to put food on the table.”