An officer allegedly asked great-grandmother Clare Nowland to "stop" several times during negotiations with her to drop a steak knife before saying "bugger it" as he was deploying his taser.

The new police allegations come after the 95-year-old great-grandmother died last night, after being rushed to the Cooma Base Hospital from the Yallambee Lodge in the NSW Snowy Mountains on May 18.

Not long before Nowland died, surrounded by her family, police charged Senior Constable Kristian White with three offences including recklessly causing grievous bodily harm.

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Police will allege Nowland, who used a walking frame, was holding a steak knife when the officer said "stop" several times, and "drop it".

It's the police case that the 95-year-old – who suffers from dementia – then raised the knife to chest height in the direction of his colleague. The senior constable asked her to stop before allegedly saying "bugger it" as he deployed the taser.

White – who is suspended with pay – is charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and common assault.

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"He is very distressed. He's concerned for not only his own welfare but the welfare of all people involved in this matter," White's lawyer Warwick Anderson said.

"I don't think that there's any dispute that on his way to this job in his wildest dreams it would unfold in the way it may have," he said.

"He was at home in bed shortly before he got called out to attend a nursing home and I don't think that there's any dispute that on his way to this job in his wildest dreams it would unfold in the way it may have."

His client will be defending the charges.

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"At this stage I'd anticipate he would enter a plea of not guilty – all of these matters will be reviewed when a brief of evidence is received," Anderson said.

9News understands the charges could be upgraded to manslaughter, but investigators will have to wait until the results of an autopsy, as they need to prove the tasering caused the injuries which led to Nowland's death.

Today, friends remembered the 95-year-old as a much-loved member of her community who adored her family.

"I've just noticed up at St Patrick's Church the flag is at half mast which really says to all of us, even if you didn't know her, she was really important to this community," Cooma local Mike Evans said.

Nowland was a mother to eight, grandmother to 24 and great-grandmother to 31.

Friend Kevin Dunne often visited Nowland at her nursing home and admired her faith in God and her commitment to being a volunteer.

"With Clare the thing that struck me the most was her love of her family," Dunne said.

"She's left a wonderful legacy, I think they'll all be inspired by the example of her life."

Electricity prices will increase between 20 and 25 per cent from July 1 for about 600,000 customers across three states, the Australian Energy Regulator has confirmed.

Half a million Victorian residents and small businesses will be affected by separate increases of $350 and $750 on average.

Thursday's moves will put pressure on many families, who will see their energy bills surge over winter.

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The AER's decision impacts customers in New South Wales, south-east Queensland and South Australia who are on the default market offer (DMO) over the coming financial year.

Customers in Victoria and Tasmania are part of a different process and Western Australia and the Northern Territory are on a different market.

The DMO is the maximum price providers give to households and businesses on standing deals who haven't searched for a more competitive deal, effectively a price cap.

From July 1, residential customers on standard retail plans will see price increases of 20.8 per cent to 23.9 per cent without controlled load and from 19.6 per cent to 24.9 per cent with controlled load, depending on their region.

Small business customers are facing rises of 14.7 per cent to 28.9 per cent, depending on their region.

The price rise is higher than the draft offer proposed by the AER in March when the regulator flagged hikes of 20 per cent to 22 per cent.

The AER said the revised increase was based on stakeholder feedback and factored in updated wholesale, network, environmental schemes and retail costs, the latest inflation forecasts and reduced the retail allowance in NSW.

Victorians will see an increase of $350 per year on the average household bill under their process, $750 for the average small business.

"You will see increases in default offers around the country today," Essential Services Commission chairperson Kate Symons said.

The change will impact 500,000 households and businesses on the default offer.

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AER Chair Clare Savage said the regulator had to balance the cost-of-living pressures customers faced with the need for retailers to recover reasonable costs.

"We know households and small businesses continue to face cost-of-living pressures on many fronts, and that's why it's important the DMO provides a safety net for those who might not have shopped around for a better power deal," Savage said.

"In setting the DMO price this year we have sought to protect consumers from unjustifiably high prices and at the same time allow retailers to offer consumers better deals than their standard plans."

Savage advised customers to shop around for the best electricity price offer and use the AER price comparison site at www.energymadeeasy.gov.au.

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Witnesses have described a "wave of heat" and huge blasts as a massive blaze engulfed a seven-storey building in Surry Hills near Sydney's CBD.

One woman who was near Central Station at the time the fire erupted told 9News she was "a bit in shock".

"I was right there and it was very loud," she said.

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One student who was near Central Station at the time said he felt a burst of heat from the fire.

"It was bloody scary when it collapsed," he said.

"It was really loud and I was scared for the people who were around there.

"The wave of heat that came on my face, it was scary."

9News senior cameraman Mike McGee described the fire as "one of the biggest building fires I've seen in the city".

"I first got off the train and saw the smoke," he said earlier this afternoon.

"That was pretty much before any fire trucks or police had arrived.

"There were flames leaping out from every window."

Matt Russell was on platform 17 of Central Station when news of the fire broke out.

"It's very, very busy," he said.

"Lots of people holding up their phones trying to look at this thing.

"The smoke is just billowing out of the building, it's so high.

"You can really feel the heat like you're right next to the fire."

"The building collapsed, which caught everyone by surprise."

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