Iowa Energy Price Outlook
At Alliant Energy, we work hard to manage our costs and provide you with the tools necessary to budget for future energy costs. Your energy bill is made up of several components. Some, like base rates and the basic service charge, are set by the Iowa Utilities Board and may stay the same for several years.
Other components change annually, or even monthly, based upon the actual costs to provide you with these services. Of course, the weather remains the biggest factor in how your bill may fluctuate from month to month.
This page will be updated regularly to provide the latest detail on the components that make up your energy costs.
If you’d like to learn more about what each line item on your bill means, visit the Understanding Your Bill section of our webpage.
Cost outlook webinars
We offer specialized biannual webinars to our communities and our commercial and industrial customers. The most recent webinars are posted below.
Community Energy Cost Outlook Webinar (Video)
December 2021
Commercial and Industrial customer Energy Cost Outlook Webinar (Video)
December 2021
Questions and answers from the webinars
Click to expand the links below for more information:
Alliant Energy has not filed a natural gas rate review, so base natural gas costs are not expected to change in 2022. This base rate covers the cost of necessary improvements we make to deliver natural gas to our customers, including replacing aging materials, installing new safety equipment, upgrading existing pipelines for more reliable and expanded service and adding advanced metering. See where these line items appear on your bill here.
While the base rate is not expected to change in 2022, the overall bill is also influenced by the market price of natural gas and customers’ usage.
The cost to procure natural gas for our customers is a direct pass-through for our customers and generally makes up more than half of a customer’s monthly bill.
Natural gas costs increased due to the extreme cold weather in February 2021. Going into 2022, increased fuel prices are also expected to impact heating bills this winter.
Alliant Energy takes actions throughout the year to help stabilize the price customers pay for natural gas and minimize the impact on bills. For example, we buy and store some natural gas in the summer when the prices are lower. This contracted storage is then withdrawn and used when prices are typically higher.
We are projecting 2022 natural gas costs for customers will be similar to 2021.
Natural gas tariffs
Overall, electric bills in 2022 are expected to be higher than 2021. This increase is driven by the following factors:
- Tax benefits flowing through the Energy Adjustment Clause (EAC) Charge ended in June 2021. These benefits provided lower energy costs between July 2020 and June 2021. With the benefits ending, the Energy Adjustment Clause in 2022 will be higher than 2021.
- The Renewable Energy Rider (RER), which includes costs and revenues from our wind farms, is increasing due to an under collection of costs in 2021.
- Transmission costs will increase due to ongoing investments by our transmission provider into the transmission system and a change in our transmission provider’s depreciation rates.
Total Bills
Overview: This is an overall look at the “total amount due” portion of your bill. While the per kWh cost of your bill is the same as others in your class, your home or business’s usage has the largest impact on your bill. If you add a new appliance or upgrade to a high efficiency cooling unit, these changes will impact your total bill.
Below, you’ll find details on each element of your bill and how they may change in the future.
⇑ Future outlook: Base rates will not change from their current levels in 2022. These rates have been in effect since March 2020. In a year with no base rate changes, riders are the main drivers for cost adjustments. Each of these are noted in the components section below. The change in transmission costs impacts each class differently, based on how those costs are allocated. That creates different outcomes. At this time, we expect overall costs will be higher in 2022 than they were in 2021.
Base Rate Components
(These charges can only be changed as part of a rate proceeding before the Iowa Utilities Board.)
BASIC SERVICE CHARGE
Overview: This is the fixed charge to each customer to connect their home or business to our system and to maintain the meter and connection.
Cost: Currently, this charge is:
Residential: $0.4274/day or about $13 per month.
Commercial: $0.6575/day or about $20 per month.
⇔ Future outlook: This charge can only be changed as part of a rate proceeding before the Iowa Utilities Board. At this time, there are no pending rate proceedings filed or publicly announced.
USAGE COSTS
Overview: This is the cost per kWh of energy used at your home or business. If you look at your meter, the number displayed is a count of the kWh your home or business uses.
Winter energy charges are “stepped,” meaning your rate per kWh will lower when your daily or monthly usage exceeds a certain threshold, or step.
This rate is also adjusted based on the season. Because the electrical grid must be more robust to handle the demands of summer usage, the rates increase between May 16 and September 15, when demands on our energy grid are more significant.
Cost: There are many details and options for rates for residential, general service and large general service customers. These options and rate details are highlighted in our online tariffs.
⇔ Future outlook: This charge can only be changed as part of a rate proceeding before the Iowa Utilities Board. At this time, there are no pending rate proceedings filed or publicly announced.
Riders
(These charges can be updated more frequently than Base Rate Components and do not require a rate proceeding before the Iowa Utilities Board .)
ENERGY ADJUSTMENT CLAUSE (EAC) CHARGE
Overview: While several charges and credits flow through this line on your bill, the main component is the cost of fuel to produce energy, or the cost to purchase energy for customers.
Cost: The cost is updated and tracked online each month. This also provides visibility to the items that make up our energy costs.
⇑ Future outlook: This charge is updated monthly. Tax benefits flowing through this line item ended in June 2021, which will push costs higher in 2022. However, our investments in wind energy and the end of our nuclear power purchase agreement are expected to keep costs lower than pre-2020 levels.
REGIONAL TRANSMISSION SERVICE CHARGE
Overview: Transmission service is provided to our customers by a third-party provider. This provider’s rates are based upon annual filings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Alliant Energy participates in FERC filings on behalf of our customers.
Cost: Transmission charges for all price codes are available in our online tariff document.
⇑Future outlook: Our transmission provider updates its rates annually. We expect transmission costs to be higher in 2022 due to their ongoing investments in the transmission system, ensuring reliability for customers. Impacts of repairs made to the transmission system following the derecho in August 2020 will be added to the transmission service charge in 2022, which will also cause it to increase.
Starting in June 2021, customers received a one-time credit based on a change in the return-on-equity for our transmission partner. Their regulators lowered the returns after a request from customer advocates, our company and other utilities. This credit accounted for approximately half of the total refund amount due to customers. An additional one-time credit has been proposed to take effect in January 2022 for additional refunds.
Learn more about the one-time credit.
Learn more about the Regional Transmission Service Charge
RENEWABLE ENERGY RIDER
Overview: This item helps cover the costs of bringing more renewable energy to customers. The charge allows for recovery of the costs from wind farms constructed in Iowa and is applied to your monthly bill. Many factors go into this cost, including the forecasted renewable energy costs and total demand. The customer benefits of Production Tax Credits also flow through this line item.
Cost: Currently, this charge is $0.00240/kWh.
⇑ Future outlook: This charge is updated annually. We expect this to increase in 2022 based on an under collection of costs in 2021.ENERGY EFFICIENCY COST RECOVERY
Overview: We offer numerous programs to help customers reduce energy use. This charge covers the costs to deliver energy efficiency plans. The charge is adjusted annually and is based on your energy use.
| Customer Class | Cost |
| Residential | $0.0017/kWh |
| General Service | $0.0009/kWh |
| Large General Service | $0.0008/kW |
⇔ Future outlook: This charge is updated annually. Costs are expected to be similar in 2022.
DEMAND RESPONSE COST RECOVERY
Overview: This program provides a discount to customers who, in return, are willing to reduce their energy usage during times of high energy demand. Demand response programs are designed to lower the costs for all customers by reducing the amount of power that must be purchased on very hot days, when the price and demand is the highest. It also reduces the need for new power generation.
| Customer Class | Cost |
| Residential | $0.0018/kWh |
| General Service | $0.0017/kWh |
| Large General Service | $0.0012/kW |
⇔ Future outlook: This charge is updated annually. Costs are expected to be similar in 2022.
LOCAL OPTION TAX OR FRANCHISE FEE
Overview: Depending on your community, you may have a franchise fee or local option sales tax added to your bill. You cannot have both on your bill. This charge is requested by your community. Alliant Energy collects the fee and provides it to the community.
Cost: This amount varies from 0% to 5%, based on decisions made by your local city council. Please contact your city clerk to learn more.
Future outlook (varies):This charge is determined by your local community.
View your customer class below to see an estimated breakdown of the charges on your bill.
Those interested in looking at past cost data can reference the tables below with annual total bill costs by customer class. Customers can visit myaccount.alliantenergy.com to see their individual usage.
Annual average cents per kWh
This information was last updated in December 2021.