The study, done by the Australian National University, found in some remote communities, 91 per cent of households experienced a disconnection from electricity during the 2018-2019 financial year.

The data, taken from electricity meters for 3,300 households in 28 remote Indigenous communities, also shows almost three quarters of households, 74 per cent, using prepaid electricity meters had their household power disconnected more than 10 times.

And the report authors suggest these figures are actually an "underestimate."

Dr Simon Quilty, the report's co-author, a senior researcher at ANU and a specialist physician based in Alice Springs, said widespread poverty among remote Indigenous communities mean households often use pre-paid meters for electricity.

"These people are really deeply impoverished, so they run out of money all the time, and obviously in these communities there's really low levels of financial literacy," Dr Quilty said.

"When people have switched to a contracted post-pay means of purchase, they often end up in astronomical debt."

He said this method leaves residents are much more likely to have to go without power.

"So on a Monday morning, if you haven't been able to top up your [pre-paid power] card over the weekend, then you start Monday with a $50 debt on your smart data that you have to pay off before the electricity turns on," he said.

"It is really really common for people in remote communities and town camps in the Northern Territory to have to choose between power and food on Monday, and, for the most part, my understanding is people choose power.

"Because without power, they have nowhere to shelter from really extreme weather."

Dr Quilty also said the poor infrastructure in remote communities means residents are forced to spend a lot more money on keeping them cool.

"There are a lot of houses in our study that showed very, very high levels of energy consumption," he said.

"This is because these houses are incredibly poorly constructed, and so the amount of electricity required and the types of air conditioning machines that they have installed...have to work incredibly hard to keep the inside cavity at a safe temperature

"So a remote three bedroom house with 15 residents might use three to four times as much power as my house with my family of four in Alice Springs."

Report co-author Norman Frank lives near the Central Australian town of Tennant Creek, which has been recording temperatures of up to 45C this week.

The Waramungu Elder recently installed solar panels on the house he lives in with at least six others family members at any given time.

He said the panels have dramatically decreased his electricity costs.

"I used to spend money to spend a lot of money on power cards, like $50 to $100 a week," he said.

"That's [the solar panels] been a really good help for me. All my medication in the fridge...doesn't go off all the time.

"Nothing was safe."

However, he said many people he knows don't have access to solar panels, meaning they often go without power.

"If you get behind in payments, it just goes off," Mr Frank said.

"And if the power goes off everything goes off."

Despite living in this area his whole life, with ancient connections and knowledge of his country, he said he has seen unprecedented changes to the environment around him.

"Out bush, it's changed," he said.

"2018 and 19 were the worst years. The grass went black and the trees all died. Nothing...no lizards, nothing been out.

"Just cooked, everything been cooked.

"Something gone wrong. It's just not right, the weather now."

The report recommends that action be taken by governments to ensure vulnerable people are not losing power, especially during extreme weather events.

Dr Quilty said urgent action also needs to be taken to combat climate change, which is contributing to the rising heat levels impacting these communities.

"The urgency cannot be understated, people are already dying in the last few years for heat waves," he said.

"We are not recognising those deaths, and urgent action is is absolutely required to prevent to prevent a catastrophe."