The residents of Portarlington in Victoria are the latest to band together and take on the big power companies.

At a time when power bills are soaring, residents like Sarah Crisp are celebrating.

"Its great to have this scheme. I think a lot of people were a bit unsure about it and are uncertain on their own about how to better negotiate a deal and by doing it as a community obvioulsy there's more clout in that," Sarah said.

• Smart metre concerns
• Money saving masters
• Energy cost complaints

Cheaper power thanks to people power - the Victorian seaside community clubbed together, putting its power requirements out to tender.

280 Portarlington residents signed on with energy company AGL under a new bulk purchasing agreement - a scheme which will save those residents an average 10.9 per cent, savings climbing as high as 27 per cent on their existing bills.

“People worked out that they could save between $100 and up to $600 each year on their power bills, with the average being about a $200 saving”, Portarlington Community Association's John Turner said.

Procurement specialist Chris Kechagais pioneered group buying deals.

“We’re currenlty working with about 25 power groups operating across Victoria, SA and South East Queensland. They’re trying to put themselves in a strong bargaining positon with the energy retailers and trying to leverage as much buying power as they can," Chris said.

“The bigger the numbers the greater the bargaining power the community has."

In Somers, east of Melbourne, locals are counting their power bill savings. A year ago it was the first community to trial the scheme - 200 participants saving close to $60,000 with Neighbourhood Energy's 15 per cent off standard rates, plus up to $50 in additional benefits.

Retiree Mike Andrewartha pocketed $50 a quarter or $200 this past year, with success spurring on the Residents Association's Kingsley Culley.

“We're currently going out to the market for gas and we hope by the end of the year we'll have an offering on gas. We think we will go even further than gas down the track, perhaps telcos and maybe even insurance”, Kingsley said.

• For further information - www.powergrouppurchasing.com