Many Granite Staters had the air conditioners running Sunday to keep cool, but they might be rethinking about cranking the AC in August. The Office of the Consumer Advocate said utility bills will likely rise about 50% in the Granite State based on recent rate changes filed with the public utilities commission. Utility companies are expected to pass along those higher costs to consumers."If you’re a customer of Eversource your energy service rate is about doubling from about 11 cents to about 22 cents beginning on Aug. 1,” said Donald Kreis, consumer advocate. Experts said the US relies on natural gas to produce electricity.They often come from Eastern European countries, like Ukraine.