TOP STORY: Winneshiek Energy District's Andy Johnson: The Iowa Utilities Board "asked some good questions" during the hearing on Alliant Energy's proposed rate hikes

The Iowa Utilities Board has concluded three days of hearing witness testimony in the rate increase case involving Alliant Energy.

Three witnesses from the so-called "Decorah Area Group" gave testimony during the hearings--David Osterberg, Jim Martin-Schramm and Dave Berg.  The Decorah Area Group is a coalition made up of the City of Decorah, Winneshiek Energy District, Luther College, Winneshiek Medical Center, and Aase Haugen Senior Services.

Winneshiek Energy District Director Andy Johnson also attended the three days of hearings in Des Moines.  He was pleased with the questions he heard from IUB members, but was worried by some of the proposals advanced by Alliant Energy.

For instance, the utility wants to increase its fixed charge rate--a charge levied on all customers, no matter how much electricity they use--by $3 a month.  Alliant also wants higher charges for transmission line costs.

Johnson calls this "a back door attack on solar energy," since solar energy generators are less reliant on transmission lines because of the electricity they generate by themselves.

Johnson also says the IUB asked many questions about the municipal utility referendum in Decorah last year--especially about the campaign promises made by Alliant leading up to the vote.  The utility said its rates were likely to increase only one or two percent a year--but now is asking for a 24.5 percent increase in residential rates.  Alliant also claimed that switching to a municipal utility would result in 30 percent rate increases.

In addition to the testimony by three experts hired by the Decorah Area Group, DAG also submitted more than 100 pages of documents leading up to the IUB hearing this week.

A ruling on the Alliant Energy rate increase request is expected some time around the end of this year.