National Fuel Gas customers will get their chance to comment on the utility's request for a $16.5 million general rate hike being considered by the Public Utility Commission at a public hearing today.

National Fuel hasn't raised its general rates -- which cover its operational costs only -- since 1995. The 6.8-percent increase would hike the average household's monthly gas bill about $6.50 to $102.

Ken Springirth, the independent consumer advocate who pushed for the 7 p.m. hearing at Erie City Hall, said customers have had enough trouble keeping up with the rising price of natural gas. Although the utility doesn't make money on the gas it sells, those rates have increased 800 percent in the last 30 years, Springirth said.