CANA, Va. — Cana residents are ready to fight back against rate hikes in their power bills.

To that end, there will be a town hall meeting in the cafeteria at St. Paul School on Jan. 30 at 3 p.m. to discuss concerns with 10th District Rep. Ward Armstrong. His legislative package for the 2010 General Assembly session includes addressing the concerns of citizens over what he calls excessive rate increases from American Electric Power Co. (AEP), the company that supplies power to southwest Virginia.

Over the past ten years the company as increased its rates several times, with those rate hikes coming in December and January, according to several residents in the area.

In Virginia, a utility must seek permission from the State Corporation Commission (SCC) for every rate hike. However, the company can increase its rates immediately, pending the SCC decision. If the commission rejects the rate increase, or approves a lesser increase, the utility must refund the overcharge during the months while t he request was pending.

The latest rate increase — which the company claims is 12.5 percent — is the fourth such rate hike over the past two years, totaling increases of nearly 50 percent over what American Electric customers were paying for electric service in 2008.

Some say their bills have gone up even more, stating their January bills came out 25 to 30 percent higher than the same period a year ago. AEP officials have said the increase for January can be attributed to a longer billing cycle of several days and higher heating costs associated with a recent cold snap.

A number of people in Virginia are angry with the multiple rate hikes, and with the timing of this latest increase.

“People shouldn’t have to choose between groceries and paying your power bill in January,” said Donnette Leonard, a citizen in Cana. “People have watched their electric bills double and triple in the coldest winter we’ve had in quite a while.”

According to Leonard, the rate hikes are affecting everyone. Small business owners are having to pay higher power bills and in turn are raising their prices to cover the cost. Those buying from the small businesses are having to spend more money on goods and services, leaving them less money to pay their own power bills, which are also rising.

Citizens in the AEP service area, particularly those living in Cana, are tired of the hikes and looking to the General Assembly to impose new regulations on the company, according to Leonard. Petitions have been distributed all over Cana and have gathered more than 600 signatures in less that one week. Copies of the petitions will go to the SCC and to Armstrong to take to Richmond.

“He’ll be explaining what legislation is in front of the General Assembly and how it effects re-regulating them,” said Leonard of Armstrong’s visit. “It will also give folks the chance to say this is affecting me and this is how. There’s a lot of upset people out there. It’s all through southwest Virginia.”

This is not the only such meeting taking place across the portion of the state served by AEP. On Jan. 18, State Senator Phillip P. Puckett and others from the Russell County area of the state met with AEP representatives in Bluefield, Va., expressing the same concerns.

According to an article which appeared in the Friday edition of The Daily Telegraph, Puckett said he felt that meeting went well. He said he believe AEP officials did not fully understand the effect those rate increases, decided upon by the company’s management and board in Columbus, Ohio, had on families and individuals in Virginia. “We asked them to consider withdrawing their request for a rate increase,” The Daily Telegraph quoted him as saying.