It’s called a natural gas franchise fee. “A flat monthly fee, a per therm fee, which charges based on the amount of natural gas that a customer is using, and then a tiered flat fee,” she says. “The city council has elevated responsible environmental stewardship to one of the city council’s strategic priorities,” Betzold says. If approved, it would be distributed across everyone who pays a natural gas bill, including renters, showing up as line item on their bill. “I’ve been getting calls on both sides of it,” says Rochester Ward 2 City Council member, Patrick Keane.