DES MOINES, IOWA (November 30, 2023) — With electricity rates expected to be a hot topic in the 2024 state legislative session, it appears nearly everyone is calling for greater utility transparency, especially as Alliant Energy seeks to increase customer rates in 2024 by an average of $10 a month and a further $7-a-month average increase in 2025. That means Alliant customers will likely be paying an additional $200 a year by 2025!
In the 2023 legislative session, lawmakers tasked the Iowa Utilities Board with reviewing the 22-year-old ratemaking laws which govern the big energy monopolies, MidAmerican and Alliant. This resulted in a trio of intense stakeholder discussions at the IUB which IEC participated in, along with other stakeholders in the business, industry, and municipal sectors, as well as the utilities themselves.
The official report and recommendations from this stakeholder process have not yet been published, but certain ideas clearly emerged. Nearly all energy customers and their advocates united in a call for greater transparency and planning from the utilities — formalized in other states as Integrated Resource Plans or IRPs — to show customers that the rates they pay are truly reasonable. As rates climb in Alliant service territory, it is creating a real barrier to economic development and squeezing small businesses and families. The legislature must act to fix this problem.
As we prepare for further discussions on the ratemaking process, IEC is producing a series of educational videos to dig deeper into utility planning and shed light on how [the lack of] planning impacts our energy rates. We'll also tell you what can do to ensure Iowa utilities provide your family, your business, and your community with clean, reliable generation at fair, reasonable rates.
