Last week Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power filed a 17% rate hike request with the Public Service Commission. If passed, this would increase the average residential bill by about $27. For commercial customers, the average bill would go by about $60. By Monday, there had already been 55 letters of protest submitted on the PSC website.”People are already struggling to buy food and other basic needs,” one comment said. “Electricity should not be a luxury”. Kanawha County Commissioner Marc Slotnick appeared on Eyewitness News on Monday and said the commission aims to fight this. “We represent our citizens, and we need to be careful with how their money is spent,” said Slotnick.