116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
MidAmerican Energy announces bid to increase gas delivery rates
Customers will see 5 percent increase on their gas bill this month
Jun. 22, 2023 4:57 pm
MidAmerican Energy announced it will request permission from the Iowa Utilities Board to raise natural gas delivery rates by 6 percent for the company’s roughly 600,000 natural gas customers.
Customers will see an immediate interim increase of 5 percent, the maximum allowed under Iowa law, while the Iowa Utilities Board holds a series of public hearings in MidAmerican’s service areas.
The Iowa Utilities Board is expected to announce its decision next May after investigating the impacts and necessity of the increase, according to a news release from MidAmerican.
MidAmerican gas delivery rate increase public hearing information
Sioux City — 6 p.m. Monday, July 24, 2023, Sioux City Convention Center, 801 Fourth St.
Waterloo — 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 26, 2023, Majestic Moon, 1955 Locke Ave.
Des Moines — 6 p.m. Thursday, July 27, 2023, Holiday Inn Des Moines-Airport Conference Center, 6111 Fleur Drive
Davenport — 6 p.m. Monday, July 31, 2023, The River Center, 136 E. Third St.
Cedar Rapids — 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, The Olympic South Side Theater, 1202 Third St. S.E., Suite 200
Virtual — 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023
More information and details about attending public hearings are available at iub.iowa.gov
MidAmerican estimates that the 6 percent increase will result in an average of $5 per month for its customers, or $60 per year.
If the Iowa Utilities Board approves an increase less than the 5 percent interim increase, customers will receive a refund for the difference.
Nick Nation, the vice president of gas delivery at MidAmerican, said that the company waited until the costs of natural gas itself had reached an all-time low to decrease the financial burden it would place on customers.
Recommended Reading
“At MidAmerican, we understand that inflation has put financial pressures on our customers, which is why we’ve done our best to control costs and file for this increase at a time when natural gas costs are the lowest they’ve been in years,” Nation said.
MidAmerican said it filed for the increase because of the rising cost of providing natural gas to its expanding customer base.
According to a news release from MidAmerican, it has seen a 20 percent increase in its customer base - or over 100,000 customers - since it last filed for a rate increase in 2002.
The rising number of natural gas customers and the cost of new security measures required for gas pipelines made the increase necessary, according to MidAmerican.
“We work hard every day to keep energy costs as affordable for our customers as we possibly can, which is how we’ve been able to control costs and keep our gas rates the same for more than 20 years,” Nation said. “Over that time, we have invested heavily in our natural gas system to make sure we can continue to safely and reliably serve our growing customer base here in Iowa. This request will help ensure we can continue to dependably deliver natural gas to homes and businesses in the communities we serve.”
Comments: 319-368-8877; liam.halawith@thegazette.com
Daily Newsletters