The Clean Energy Districts of Iowa (CEDI) has completed additional analysis of the most recent annual reports submitted to the Iowa Utilities Commission by each electric utility in Iowa. Residential households and commercial establishments served by Alliant Energy may be dismayed.
In 2023, Iowa’s electric utilities served 1,434,565 residential customers. Only 614 of these households paid more per kilowatt hour (kWh) for their electricity than the 413,010 residential customers served by Alliant.
Alliant Energy’s average per kWh rate for residential customers was higher than every one of Iowa’s 42 rural electric cooperatives (REC) and higher than all but two of Iowa’s 136 municipal electric utilities (MEU).
How much could households served by Alliant have saved if they had been served by a different electric utility in 2023?
Maquoketa Valley Rural Electric Cooperative’s per kWh cost represents the median between Alliant Energy and the 178 other electric utilities with lower costs to serve residential customers. If the average Alliant household had purchased the same amount of electricity from Maquoketa Valley REC, it would have paid 27% less and saved over $421 in 2023.
The table below compares Alliant’s costs with those of the other investor-owned electric utility in Iowa, MidAmerican Energy, as well as a few municipal electric utilities.
If the average Alliant household had purchased the same amount of electricity from MidAmerican Energy, it would have paid 38.5% less and saved over $608 in 2023.
The annual savings would be even greater if the Alliant household was served by any one of the 49 municipal electric utilities and RECs that have costs even lower than MidAmerican. The Cedar Falls and New Hampton MEUs provide two examples in the table above. If the average Alliant household had purchased the same amount of electricity from one of these MEUs, it would have paid at least 42% less and saved over $669.
*Total bundled, all-in cost per kilowatt hour based on each utility’s 2023 annual electric utility report to the Iowa Utilities Commission
**Costs based on average consumption information reported in Alliant Energy’s Notice of Proposed Electric Rate Increase, October 6, 2023.
Alliant’s 84,798 commercial customers didn’t fare much better in 2023.
Alliant Energy’s high average per kWh rate for commercial customers placed it in the top third of Iowa’s 181 most-expensive electric utilities who served 236,174 customers in 2023.
MiEnergy Rural Electric Cooperative’s per kWh cost represents the median between Alliant Energy and the 130 other electric utilities with lower costs to serve commercial customers. If the average commercial customer served by Alliant had purchased the same amount of electricity from MiEnergy REC, it would have paid 16% less and saved $494.
The table below compares Alliant’s cost to serve commercial customers with the same set of comparison utilities utilized above.
If the average commercial customer served by Alliant had purchased the same amount of electricity from MidAmerican Energy, it would have paid 33% less and saved over $1,027.
The annual savings would be even greater if the commercial customer served by Alliant was served by any one of the 11 municipal electric utilities and RECs that have costs even lower than MidAmerican. For example, if the average commercial customer served by Alliant had been served by the Cedar Falls MEU in 2023, it would have paid 51% less and saved $1,595.
Finally, Alliant Energy’s 1,363 industrial customers fared better than their residential and commercial counterparts in 2023.
Alliant’’s low cost per kWh for industrial customers places the company in the top third of low-priced Iowa electric utilities, but there are still 34 Iowa electric utilities with lower costs. Due to changes in rate structure and significant differences in energy consumption between individual customers, it is not as easy to compare utilities. Nevertheless, Alliant’s cost per kilowatt hour is 26.5% higher than MidAmerican Energy.
Despite low rates offered by MidAmerican Energy and Alliant Energy, Iowa’s municipal electric utilities actually served the largest number of industrial customers in 2023.
It is important to note that none of these comparisons reflect Alliant Energy’s ’s most recent electric rate increase, which was approved by the Iowa Utilities Commission in the fall of 2024.
CEDI’s analysis is based on consolidated 2023 electric utility information that was posted on the Iowa Utilities Commission website in October 2024. (See Iowa Utilities Commission, Information from Utility Annual Report Filings, Electric 2023)
Additional Resources
Posted: December 27, 2024
