The staff of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio is recomending the commission not approve the request by Duke Energy Ohio to raise rates for electric and natural gas service.

The next step is for Duke’s request to go before the commission, which could take it up and make a final ruling within a few months. The company said that the rate increases will compensate it for investments it has made in infrastructure to deliver electricity and natural gas. If changes are approved by state regulators, the new rates will kick in this year.

Duke said that if approved, electric bills would increase by approximately 5.1 percent on average and natural gas bills would go up an average of 6.6 percent. PUCO staff recommended rate changes that could cut gas rates by 0.9 to 2.8 percent and allow electric rates to increase from about 2.8 to 3.4 percent.

It’s not final, said Jason Gilham, PUCO spokesman. “It’s a step in the process.”

Duke argued that because of Ohio’s competitive electric generation market, electric generation prices have been coming down. So even with a PUCO approval of the proposed increase, a typical Duke Energy Ohio residential customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity each month will pay approximately $116 a month, or about 5.3 percent less than in June of 2011.

Duke added that natural gas commodity prices are sharply lower today than in recent years. Duke Energy Ohio customers are paying about 45 percent less for natural gas than they were in 2006 and 18 percent less than in 2011.

“This is simply the next step in the regulatory process. Currently we are reviewing the staffs report and will respond with specific comments at the appropriate time,” Duke spokesman Blair G. Schroeder said.