Victoria's Energy Minister Peter Batchelor has defended the government's efforts to reconnect power to homes across the state after Wednesday's violent storms.
More than 20,000 homes remained without power early on Friday, prompting calls for a swifter response from emergency services.
Electrical Trades Union Victorian secretary Dean Mighell criticised the delays, questioning whether privatisation of the power industry was to blame.
He said the new power companies had cut staff and maintenance.
"It's times like this we are totally unprepared, totally undermanned," Mr Mighell told Fairfax Radio Network.
"The pressure on the guys out there is immense at the moment and the last couple of days, it's huge, and they just haven't got the workforce beside them to help get them there.
"The old SEC (State Electricity Commission) when it did exist, had the manpower to deal with situations like this."
A spokesman for power supplier Alinta said the company had 300 workers fixing the problems.
A 38-year-old Alinta worker died on Thursday while working on damaged power lines in the Mornington area, south-east of Melbourne.
Mr Mighell said it was still unclear what led to the death.
"He seems to have been working among live electricity," Mr Mighell told Fairfax Radio Network.
"We don't know whether he knew it was live ... or it was a simple mistake or actually a fault."
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