"Customer charge" in Centerpoint Energy bill

I am sure everyone is looking in detail at their gas and electric bills.

I just recently had gas service start and wanted to see if this applies to everyone. I have a "Customer charge" of $17.39 on every bill akin to a base charge. The description for the service is "Customer charge and base amount. Covers fixed costs for reading meters, issuing bills, maintaining facilities and gas lines, postage, etc. These costs occur even if you do not use gas during a billing period."

$17.39 sounded like a crazy amount to be a base charge so I just wanted to make sure! Thanks in advance!