The Make the Connection campaign has received the backing of members of the Welsh Assembly.  A ‘statement of opinion’ in support of the campaign has been tabled in the Assembly by Mark Isherwood AM, Assembly Member for North Wales.  This follows the launch of the Welsh strand of the campaign on Monday 10 October.

That day, a mailing was sent to 1,000 small businesses across Wales with information on how best they can avoid the most common pitfalls in the energy market.

energywatch and the FSB are pressing energy suppliers and Ofgem, the regulator, to take action to improve the situation for small businesses in the energy market.

The statement of opinion reads:

OPIN-2006-0073 - Creu’r Cysylltiad / Make the Connection
Mae’r Cynulliad Cenedlaethol hwn yn croesawu Creu’r Cysylltiad, yr ymgyrch ar y cyd rhwng energywatch a’r Ffederasiwn Busnesau Bach i sicrhau gwell bargen i fusnesau bach gan y farchnad ynni, yn cydnabod bod busnesau bach yn cael llai o warchodaeth gan y drefn reoleiddio a Chodau Ymarfer y diwydiant nag a gaiff defnyddwyr ynni domestig, ac y gall hyn olygu eu bod yn profi problemau sylweddol yn y farchnad; ac mae’n galw ar gyflenwyr ynni i fusnesau gydnabod hyn a phwysigrwydd busnesau bach fel cwsmeriaid ynni, sy’n gwario dros £3 biliwn bob blwyddyn ar nwy a thrydan.

This National Assembly welcomes Make the Connection, the joint campaign by energywatch and the Federation of Small Businesses to get a better deal for small businesses from the energy market; recognises that small businesses get far less protection from regulation and industry Codes of Practice than domestic energy consumers, which can lead to them experiencing significant problems in the market; and calls on business energy suppliers to recognise both this and the importance of small businesses as energy customers, spending more than £3 billion each year on gas and electricity.