Overland Park ? Kansas Gas Service Co. said Monday it had asked state regulators for a $73.3 million rate increase to pay for improving its distribution system and for higher employee benefits and property taxes.

Kansas Gas Service, a division of Tulsa, Okla.-based ONEOK Inc., said the request, if approved by the Kansas Corporation Commission, would cost the average residential customer an additional $7.65 per month.

Brad Dixon, the company’s president, said Kansas Gas Service hadn’t requested an increase in rates since 2003.

Since then, the company has spent $170 million to upgrade equipment serving its 642,000 Kansas customers, including some in Lawrence, Dixon said in a written statement.

As part of its KCC filing, the company also proposed a new rate plan that would be tailored to the amount of gas the customer typically uses.

“Customers want the ability to manage their natural gas utility costs,” Dixon said.