Thousands of small businesses will be at a price disadvantage when legislation deregulating the electricity industry is introduced, the Small Firms Association (SFA) claimed yesterday. Mr Pat Delaney, SFA assistant director, called for the appointment of an ombudsman to oversee the sector, a price freeze for small businesses and tariff re-balancing. He said that there was no provision for small firms to benefit from tariff re-balancing "despite the fact that they are overpaying by as much as 10 per cent for their electricity requirements and represent over 90 per cent of business in Ireland".