FRANKFORT, Ky. — Customers of Big Sandy RECC can expect to see their power bills going up.

The utility had been seeking authorization for an increase from the Public Service Commission, and the regulator responded by giving the company an increase about $75,000 higher than it had requested.

The average residential customer can expect to see bills increase by about $7, almost all of which is due to an increase in the monthly customer charge, which is rising from $15 to $21.25.

The increase took effect last week.

One small bit of relief for customers — the PSC extended the amount of time customers have to pay their bills, from 15 days to 20.

Big Sandy RECC serves 13 thousand customers in Floyd, Johnson, Knott, Lawrence, Magoffin, Martin and Morgan counties.