Thousands of Arkansans would pay more for natural gas under an $87.7 million proposed utility rate increase, and lawmakers told leaders of the state’s utility regulator Monday they’re concerned constituents can’t afford it.

Summit Utilities, one of Arkansas’ natural gas providers, proposed a 30% rate increase for its approximately 525,000 customers in January. That was amended in an October settlement to instead raise rates by 23.4%. For the average household using 50 cubic feet of gas, that means an estimated monthly bill that’s $15.43 higher, plus a $4.37 monthly credit that’s about to roll off.

“We the taxpayers cannot afford this,” Sen. Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock, said during Monday’s Joint Insurance and Commerce committee meeting. “We’ve had an increase in our water bills, we’ve had an increase in our energy bills. The hospitals that are saying they’re OK with this are going to go up on their prices, and all of that’s going to be passed on to us.”

Arkansans can’t afford proposed utility rate increase, lawmakers tell regulatory agency