Alliant Energy’s Iowa utility company, Interstate Power and Light Company (IPL), filed a request with the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) Thursday, Oct. 12 to adjust its electric and natural gas rates, beginning in late 2024.
The company is requesting a 7.7% (approximately $10 per month) increase to the average residential electric customer’s total bill beginning in October 2024 and a second phase increase of 5.7% (approximately $7 per month) to take effect beginning in October 2025.
Including all electric customer classes – commercial, industrial and residential – the proposal results in an approximately 9% increase to the average electric customer’s total bill in October 2024 and a second phase increase of approximately 7% beginning in October 2025.
For IPL’s natural gas customers, the company is requesting a 5% increase (approximately $3 per month) to the average residential gas customer’s total bill in October 2024.
The utility says it’s proposing new electric rates to be phased in over approximately two years as a means of “prioritizing customer affordability.”
The overall impact on customer bills will vary, depending on actual energy used and final rates approved by the IUB after a series of hearings.
If approved, the changes would take effect in October 2024.
Since the utility’s last rate increase, which was approved in 2019, Alliant Energy officials say the utility has managed costs and provided safe and reliable service throughout several challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather events like the derecho in 2020, higher operational costs and other inflationary pressures.
“At Alliant Energy, customers are at the heart of everything we do,” Mayuri Farlinger, vice president for customer and community engagement at Alliant Energy, said in a release. “Guided by our purpose-driven strategy to serve customers and build stronger communities, we take great pride in our commitment to delivering safe and reliable service, 24/7 and 365 days a year. As an essential service in the communities we serve, we are acting now to best manage costs and investing to continue to meet customers’ energy supply needs for decades to come.
“Nobody, including us, wants to see bills increase,” Ms. Farlinger added. “However, there are more costs down the road if we do nothing or simply continue ‘business as usual.’ It’s why we’re planning ahead and acting on behalf of our customers to ensure we’re ready to manage the rapidly changing energy landscape.”
Alliant Energy officials say their request reflects investments to continue building a more reliable, sustainable and resilient energy future in Iowa, including:
- Modernizing and strengthening the energy grid, including continuing to move power lines from overhead to underground to decrease the number of outages and length of outages. Over the last decade, as Alliant Energy has placed more lines underground, the frequency of outages and duration of outages have decreased approximately 30%. Currently, over 20% of the company’s lines in Iowa are underground.
- Upgrading infrastructure to enhance and strengthen the energy system, including expanding the company’s fiber network to ensure reliable communications during emergencies.
- Diversifying the company’s Iowa energy mix by adding renewable energy, which is cost-effective for customers long-term, creates jobs and tax revenues for communities, and contributes to a healthier environment. Alliant Energy’s plans include adding 400 megawatts of solar in the state, including a 200-megawatt solar farm near the now-decommissioned Duane Arnold Energy Center in Palo, and extending the life of the wind energy the company owns and operates in Franklin County.
All publicly filed documents for the Alliant Energy rate cases are available for review in the IUB’s electronic filing system under Docket No. RPU-2023-0002
Public comment meetings set for November
The Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) has scheduled four public consumer comment meetings for November 2023 regarding the proposed IPL increases.
The public meetings will allow Alliant customers to express their views about the proposed general rate increases and comment on the overall quality of Alliant’s service. Three in-person meetings will be held in locations throughout Alliant’s Iowa service territory and one meeting will be virtual.
Representatives of Alliant, the IUB, and the Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA), a division of the Iowa Department of Justice, will be present at all meetings to hear public comments and answer questions. The OCA represents the general interests of customers in all IUB proceedings.
The meetings are scheduled as follows:
- Cedar Rapids – 6:30 p.m. Monday, November 6, the Hotel at Kirkwood Main Ballroom, 7725 Kirkwood Blvd. S.W., Cedar Rapids
- Clear Lake – 6 p.m. Tuesday, November 7, Surf Ballroom, 460 North Shore Drive, , Clear Lake
- Creston – 6 p.m. Wednesday, November 8, Southwestern Community College Performing Arts Center, 1501 W. Townline St., Creston
- Virtual – 6 p.m. Thursday, November 9. Details about participating online and at the customer comment meetings are available on the IUB’s website, iowa.gov.
Persons with disabilities requiring assistive services or devices to observe or participate in a consumer comment meeting should contact the IUB at 515-725-7300 or customer@iub.iowa.gov at least five days in advance of the scheduled date to request appropriate arrangements. All comments provided at the public meetings, or submitted in writing to the IUB, will become part of the permanent record in the rate case docket.
Written comments and objections can be submitted through the IUB’s online form, by email to customer@iub.iowa.gov, or by postal mail to the Iowa Utilities Board, Docket No. RPU-2023-0002, 1375 E. Court Ave., Des Moines, IA 50319-0069.
