SYRACUSE, N.Y. - National Grid is asking state regulators to approve the utility's first natural gas rate increase since 1996.

If approved by the state Public Service Commission, the typical household will be paying $135 a year more for natural gas _ or about $11.25 a month.

National Grid is asking the rates to be effective next April. The company has 560,000 natural gas customers in upstate New York.

The utility says its rate hike request covers only delivery charges _ the cost of maintaining the pipes and providing gas service _ not the price of natural gas, which is set on the open market.

All told, the utility is asking to boost rates by $95.3 million per year, a 10.9 percent increase. National Grid says inflation has increased 31.3 percent since its last rate hike.