The first council-owned energy company could be established in Wales following the Swansea Council’s latest proposals.

It is looking to create a “people-friendly” not-for-profit energy services company based in the city to help address the challenge of high gas and electricity charges faced by consumers.

As part of a feasibility study into the proposal, a public consultation this month is seeking views from local residents on whether they would consider buying energy from a company wholly-owned by the council.

If the public feedback is positive, the council will draw up a detailed business case for setting up the supplier.

Cllr Andrea Lewis, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Homes and Energy said: “The energy market is broken – it’s dominated by a small number of big businesses that charge over the odds, lack transparency and offer poor customer service.

“We’re working on a possible solution – our own energy company… We’ll only go ahead if we know there is an appetite in Swansea for us to offer this service and for that we need to be sure that people would consider being customers.”