Two public hearings this month will give people an opportunity to weigh in on rate increases proposed by Peoples Natural Gas.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission froze additional fees the natural gas company planned to implement March 29. Those increases are under review by the PUC, and elements like public input are being considered in its investigation.

Public hearings are scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Richland Township Fireman's Banquet Hall and 1321 Scalp Ave., Johnstown; and at 6 p.m. April 24 at the Community College of Allegheny County's Boyce Campus Performance Hall, 595 Beatty Road, Monroeville.

Peoples service is widespread throughout Butler County, but not all customers are included in this proposed rate hike. Peoples' various divisions have about 100,000 customers in the county, according to Barry Kukovich, company spokesman.

Of those, about 65,000 are within the Peoples TWP division, Kukovich said, and aren't targeted in these rate increases.

Customers in the wider Peoples division and Equitable division make up the rest of the 100,000. Kukovich said the majority of those are within the Peoples side, and that Equitable is mostly contained to a small section in the southeast corner of the county.

The various divisions are remnants of past companies consolidated under the Peoples umbrella.

The rate increases vary depending on use, according to an official notice on the increase. The utility company wants to increase rates for Peoples division customers by about 14 percent. According to the company, a customer using 86 Mcf, a natural gas unit, per year would see bills rise from $72.24 to $84.73 per month. Industrial customers would see about a 16 percent increase.

The Equitable division would get a nearly 20 percent increase for low levels of use and about a 9 percent increase for higher amounts. This would bring customers using 86 Mcf per year from $70.79 to $84.73, the company said. Industrial rates in that division would actually decrease by about 4.2 percent.

On Feb. 7, both the Pennsylvania Office of Small Business Advocate and the Pennsylvania Office of Consumer Advocate filed complaints about the rate increase.