The Kanawha County Commission is pushing back against a proposed rate hike from Mountaineer Gas.
In a letter to the West Virginia Public Service Commission, commissioners urged regulators to reject the company’s request for about forty-four and a half million dollars in additional revenue. The increase could raise residential bills by up to twenty percent.
The commission says county residents are suffering from what it calls “rate-hike fatigue,” with utility costs rising far faster than inflation and wages.
Census data show more than sixteen percent of Kanawha County residents live below the poverty line.
Commissioners also pointed out that Mountaineer Gas profits climbed from eleven-point-four million dollars last year to more than fourteen million this year.