Alcoa, Blount County (WVLT) -

Some private natural gas companies are lobbying the Tennessee Regulatory Authority seeking as much as 63% increases in natural gas prices this coming winter.

WVLT Volunteer TV's Blount County Bureau Chief Stephen McLamb shows you how the price hikes have some folks looking at alternatives.

Ryan Hawks says he moved from Indiana to Alcoa because of natural gas prices.

"That's one of the reasons I moved here because Nipsco's gas prices up there went up,” says Ryan Hawks.

But now he says he's not going to be hooking up the gas here because of the proposed increases.

"I'm going to get electric heat, little radiant heaters.  That's what's going to heat my family and my children.  I just can't afford a 63% gas hike,” says Hawks.

With natural gas prices on the rise it also causes a rise in alternatives.

"It makes our heat pump business go up,” says Dean Robbins, from Russell and Abbott.

Dean Robbins at Russell and Abbott says they're getting calls everyday to change out gas furnaces to heat pumps.

"Gas prices been going up probably for the last two years and we've changed out more heat pumps this year than we ever have,” says Robbins.

After nine years Sammy Cox is replacing his gas furnace with a dual fuel heat pump.

"It's the best thing, you get the best of both worlds with this.  You get the electric and the gas kicks in when it gets like 35 degrees outside so you get the best of both worlds and I thought that was the way to go,” says Sammy Cox.

But he is still holding on to his gas water heater.

"For now, we'll see how much longer it lasts,” adds Cox.

A spokesperson with Atmos Energy says the increases are not rate increases which would benefit their company.  She says they are only increases being passed on to consumers for natural gas price increases.