Alliant Energy Urges Expedited Resolution of Electric Rate Request to Address Iowa Governor's Concerns

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, March 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Interstate Power and Light Company (IPL), a subsidiary of Alliant Energy Corporation (NYSE: LNT), received today a letter from Iowa Governor Chet Culver requesting the company delay implementation of interim electric rates in as part of the rate case filed March 10. In its response to the Governor, IPL indicated that the company will implement interim electric rates on March 20, consistent with Iowa Law.

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"We appreciate your concerns on behalf of our customers as we also recognize the cost impact that any change in our electric rates can have on the customers we are privileged to serve," stated Tom Aller, President-IPL in the company's response to the Governor.

As part of IPL's request to change its Iowa electric rates, the company is proposing a customer cost management plan designed to reduce the impact of the rate increase for all customer types over the next several years. The plan would reduce billing impacts of the proposed rate increase for customers by approximately $90 million in the first year of the plan.

IPL can only implement the proposed cost management plan after approval by the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB). Currently, IPL expects the IUB to issue a decision on its customer cost management plan and request to adjust electric rates in early 2011. However, if the company is able to reach an agreement with intervening parties, including the Iowa Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA), the company could implement the plan earlier.

In the company's letter to the Governor, Aller requested that the Governor assist in bringing all intervening parties together to reach a settlement of the rate case in an expedited manner. The letter also recognized the Governor's vision to expand wind power in Iowa, noting that the largest investment included in the rate case is related to the construction of the company's $468 million Whispering Willow-East wind project, located in Franklin County, Iowa.

The Whispering Willow-East wind project can produce enough power to energize approximately 50,000 Iowa homes and businesses with clean, emissions-free energy.

The letter also highlights the company's cost-cutting measures. "We have more than 2,300 Iowans who come to work every day to serve our customers," stated Aller. "I am very proud of their efforts to provide safe and reliable service to our customers while managing costs. In the last year, many employees have made significant sacrifices, including furlough days, pay freezes and cuts in benefits."

Additional information for customers on the rate case and energy-saving ways to reduce the impact of the proposed rate changes is available at www.alliantenergy.com/iowarates. Documents relating to this filing can be found on the IUB Web site at www.iowa.gov/iub.

About Alliant Energy

Alliant Energy is an energy-services provider with subsidiaries serving approximately 1 million electric and 412,000 natural gas customers. Providing its customers in the Midwest with regulated electric and natural gas service is the company's primary focus. Interstate Power and Light, the company's Iowa and Minnesota utility subsidiary, serves approximately 527,000 electric and 234,000 natural gas customers. Alliant Energy is a Fortune 1000 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LNT. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.alliantenergy.com.

Alliant Energy Forward-Looking Statement

This press release includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements can be identified as such because the statements include words such as "expects" or other words of similar import. Similarly, statements that describe expected outcomes in the rate case filed with the IUB are forward-looking. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated. Actual results could be affected by the following factors, among others:

• state regulatory or governmental actions, and future regulatory proceedings, including regulatory decisions regarding IPL's proposed rate increase;
• IPL's ability to obtain adequate and timely rate relief to allow for, among other things, the recovery of operating costs, capital expenditures and deferred expenditures, the earning of reasonable rates of return and the payment of expected levels of dividends;
• economic and political conditions in IPL's service territory; and
• the impact fuel and fuel-related prices and the effectiveness of continued cost control efforts and operating efficiencies.  

These factors should be considered when evaluating the forward-looking statements and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. The forward-looking statements included herein are made as of the date hereof and Alliant Energy and IPL undertake no obligation to update publicly such statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

SOURCE Alliant Energy