| With natural gas bills un-affordable for many medium income families and the cost of gasoline jumping to $3.10 a gallon in the area, get ready for another energy increase.
Allegheny Power is asking the state Public Service Commission for a $100 million rate increase.
Allegheny says "a typical residential customer's bill would go up about seven dollars a month" to about $ 77" - a ten percent increase.
If you have an all-electric home or have a business that requires lots of electric, it will be much more.
Allegheny wants the rates to take effect in 30 days.
The utility, which covers Calhoun and most regional counties, has 490-thousand customers in WV.
The company says its cost of coal is up 21 percent over the past eight years, while the cost of natural gas has risen 88 percent during the same period.
Allegheny received approval for its last rate increase in 1994 and its most recent fuel adjustment came in 1998.
The increase could be more.
The Greensburg, Pennsylvania-based company wants the PSC to approve an annual fuel price adjustment.
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