Tuesday is another deadline in the battle over Alliant Energy's proposed rate hikes

Early this year Alliant Energy filed a request with the Iowa Utilities Board to raise its base rates for electricity.  The utility asked for a 24.45 percent rate increase for residential customers in Iowa, 18.36 percent rate increase for general service customers, and a 25.29 percent rate increase for large general service customers.

The Iowa Utilities Board held public hearings on the rate hike requests throughout the state, including a hearing at the Hotel Winneshiek in Decorah.  It then began accepting comments from Alliant Energy customers about the proposal.

One of the groups filing comments with the Utilities Board called itself "the Decorah Area Group."  It consisted of the City of Decorah, Luther College, Winneshiek Medical Center, Aase Haugen Senior Services and the Winneshiek Energy District.  The group's filing discussed what it saw as the burden higher electricity costs would place on business, institutions and local governments in the Decorah area, as well as its concerns about the impact on electricity customers who were trying to transition away from fossil fuels and towards solar energy and wind energy.

The comments by the Decorah Area Group were responded to by Alliant Energy.  Now the Decorah Area Group has until Tuesday to file with the Iowa Utilities Board its responses to the responses of Alliant.

All the back-and-forth of documents is leading up to some key dates--the Iowa Utility Board's hearing in Des Moines October 7th, 8th and 9th, on the Alliant filing.  Following those three days of hearings, the three Iowa Utility Board members will begin studying all the documents submitted--not just by the Decorah Area Group and Alliant Energy, but by other interested parties, including members of the public.

A ruling by the Iowa Utilities Board is likely by early 2020, or possibly late in 2019.