Alarmed at an effort to steeply increase the price they pay for water, many Botetourt County residents are protesting to state regulators demanding that the private company that controls their taps be reined in.

Aqua Virginia Inc., which operates water systems in 18 Botetourt subdivisions, is seeking rate increases for water and sewer service statewide that would increase average bills by more than an average of 60 percent. That would raise its revenues nearly 35 percent -- from the current $9.4 million a year to more than $12.6 million.

"To me, it's just price gouging," said Supervisor Billy Martin, who represents the Blue Ridge District of the county. Martin collected more than 1,000 signatures on a petition he sent to the State Corporation Commission, which has scheduled a hearing on the proposed rate increase for Feb. 24 in Richmond.

Martin also has hosted several town hall meetings, which he said were attended by more than 300 "riled up" constituents.

According to documents Aqua Virginia filed with the SCC in June, an average customer in Botetourt's Highland Manor who paid $29.15 a month last year would pay $47.31 a month under the rate increase, an increase of $217.92 per year. Average customers in the Rainbow Forest or Clearview subdivisions, meanwhile, would see their monthly bills climb from $25.27 to $42.55, or $207.36 more per year.

Aqua Virginia serves more than 2,000 customers in Botetourt, providing water but no sewer service. Greg Odell, the company's chief operating officer, said the $3.2 million in revenue the rate increase would provide the company is necessary to cover growing costs of electricity and labor, and to help pay for about $44 million in infrastructure upgrades the company has undertaken statewide since 2003.

Martin said Botetourt customers are being unfairly burdened with the expense of upgrades that for the most part were made elsewhere in the state. Only $1.3 million of the work was done in Botetourt, he said. But Odell said the company is asking for statewide rate increases so its 26,000 Virginia customers can share the burden.

"I think it's just outrageous," said Blue Ridge resident Robert Elliott, who said his monthly water bill will likely average $50, up from about $20 three years ago. "They're taking advantage of a situation in the middle of one of the worst recessionary periods in this country's history."

Aqua Virginia has begun charging customers at the higher rates, pending the SCC's final approval.

Anger has spread beyond Martin's Blue Ridge District. Don Assaid, supervisor in the Valley District, said he has scheduled a public meeting Tuesday to help residents contact the SCC.

"They're passing along this huge rate increase, but I don't think people had really been paying attention" until the January water bills arrived, Assaid said.

The public meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Orchard Hills Church of the Holy Spirit on Virginia 604.

Aqua Virginia is a subsidiary of Pennsylvania-based Aqua America Inc., which serves customers in 13 states and reported profits of about $98 million in 2008.