Columbia’s town attorney Dwight Wheless is slated to speak on the town’s behalf in a public hearing in Raleigh.

Wheless told the board of aldermen last month that he was shocked at the “unmitigated gall” of Piedmont Natural Gas in proposing a 9.3 percent rate hike to increase corporate profits.

The aldermen considered asking the state Utilities Commission to hold a hearing nearby, but Wheless volunteered to go to the capital October 15 at his own expense, to represent town citizens and read into the record the aldermen’s statement against the increase.

Commission rules allow written statements to be submitted by mail, but they become evidence only when the writers appear at a public hearing and testify concerning the information in their statements.

Piedmont proposes to increase its winter residential gas rate by 14.1 percent, upping an average customer’s monthly bill by $14.60 to $118.21, including state excise tax, for 91 therms, the NC Utilities Commission’s notice of hearing states.

Summer rates(April through October) would go up 9.8 percent for an overall annual increase of 12.9 percent for residential customers.

“Piedmont also states that its present rates would permit it to earn only 7.19 percent return on common equity and the proposed rates will give it the opportunity to earn 11.30 percent,” the notice states.

If granted, the increase will raise Piedmont’s annual operating revenues to $936.5 million, or 9.3 percent over its current income, the company projected.