RICHMOND-The State Corporation Commission has scheduled a public hearing for June 24 to receive comments on a request by Dominion Virginia Power to increase the company’s fuel rate on July 1.

Dominion says the increase is necessary to cover the higher costs of fuel used to generate electricity.

The company is seeking to raise its current fuel factor from 2.232 cents per kilowatt-hour to 3.893 cents. An average residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours in a month would see an increase of $16.61 on a monthly bill, or 18.3 percent.

A public hearing on the request is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 24, in the commission’s second-floor courtroom located in the Tyler Building, 1300 E. Main St., in downtown Richmond. Any person wishing to comment at the hearing should arrive early and notify the SCC bailiff.

The SCC intends to webcast the audio portion of the hearing via the Internet. Instructions can be found on the SCC Web site at http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case.

Written comments on the proposals must be submitted by June 19. All correspondence should be sent to the Clerk of the State Corporation Commission, Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, Virginia 23218-2118, and refer to case number PUE-2008-00039.

Interested persons desiring to submit comments electronically may do so at the SCC’s Web site: http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case. Click on the PUBLIC COMMENTS/NOTICES link and then the SUBMIT COMMENTS button for case number PUE-2008-00039. Electronic comments sent to any other SCC e-mail address will not be included as part of the proceeding.