CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — A representative with the West Virginia Public Service Commission says the Pipeline Demand Charge that Mountaineer Gas customers are seeing on their bills is not a new charge.

Susan Small with the West Virginia Public Service Commission says it is a new item listed and not a new charge. It is now on the bill because the Commission asked for it to be so customers could see the full extent of all charges. Small says, for every 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas, customers are being charged a monthly flat rate to bring the gas into their homes.

Mountaineer Gas Company customers were made aware of an increase that was issued starting on Jan. 1. According to the Commission, they received a notice for a rate increase from the Mountaineer Gas Company on Feb. 1. Representatives say it has not made its way to the commission, but are expecting it sometime in February.

The Kanawha County Commission is asking the Public Service Commission to deny the rate increase because this would be the seventh rate increase in the past two years.

They have reached out to West Virginia lawmakers urging them to crease and pass legislation to put a cap on utility rate hikes. They say they have sent a “notice of intent to file a petition to intervene and oppose Mountaineer Gas Company’s general rate case to the Public Service Commission,” on Tuesday.