COEUR d'ALENE - A public hearing about a proposed settlement to the Avista Utilities rate case will be Tuesday night in Coeur d'Alene.

The hearing will be at 7 p.m. in the Driftwood Bay Room of the North Idaho College Student Union Building, 1000 W. Garden Ave.

At the hearing conducted by the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, Avista customers will be able to testify before the three commissioners who will decide the case.

There is no presentation from the commission or Avista Utilities. The only purpose of the hearings is to take customer testimony.

The proposed settlement divides Avista's request into two phases with a 4.9 percent increase in natural gas rates on April 1 (Avista originally proposed 7.2 percent) and no electric increase.

On Oct. 1, customers would get a net electric increase of 1.9 percent. Avista originally proposed a 4.6 percent electric increase effective April 1. Also on Oct. 1, would be a .3 percent in natural gas rates.

If the proposed increases are granted, the bill of an average residential electric customer who uses 930 kilowatt-hours per month would increase by about $2 on Oct. 1. The gas increase for a residential customer who uses the company's average 60 therms per month would be about $2.82 per month on April 1 and another 31 cents per month on Oct. 1.

The proposed settlement states that Avista will not have base rates adjusted again until Jan. 1, 2015 at the earliest. Avista officials have said the funds will be used for system upgrades, including at the Post Falls Dam. The company replaces about 6,000 distribution poles each year.

On the gas side, the company is allowed another 2 percent base rate increase on Oct. 1. However, that increase is offset by a reduction in the annual Purchased Gas Cost Adjustment that reduces the increase to a net .3 percent.

A copy of the proposed settlement is at http://tinyurl.com/aunwsd3.

Avista serves about 123,000 electric and 75,000 natural gas customers in North Idaho.