HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission announced a series of four mid-June telephonic hearings to gather public input on a rate increase request filed by Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania.

Columbia Gas provides natural gas distribution services to approximately 436,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in portions of 26 counties across western and south-central Pennsylvania. They are seeking an overall revenue increase of approximately $98.3 million per year. Under this proposal the monthly bill for a residential customer using 70 therms per month would increase from $100.77 to $115.37 (14.49%).

Four hearings are scheduled as follows: June 14 at 1 and 6 p.m., and June 16 at 1 and 6 p.m.

PUC Deputy Chief Administrative Law Judge Mark A Hoyer will preside over the hearings.

Anyone wishing to testify at one of the hearings must pre-register by 10 a.m. on June 11, 2021. If you do not pre-register and provide the information listed below, you may not be able to testify. Individuals will testify in the order in which they pre-register.

Interested persons may pre-register by email or by phone.

To pre-register by email, please email Judge Hoyer’s legal assistant, Nick Miskanic, at nmiskanic@pa.gov, and provide: your first and last name, the date and time of the hearing at which you wish to testify, the phone number you will be using to call into the public input hearing, and if you require an interpreter to participate in the hearing, the language of the interpreter.

To pre-register by phone, please call Judge Hoyer’s office at 412-565-3550 and leave a message providing: your first and last name, the date and time of the hearing at which you wish to testify, the phone number you will be using to call into the public input hearing, a phone number where you can be reached prior to the hearing if we need to contact you, your email address, if you have one, and if you require an interpreter to participate in the hearing, the language of the interpreter