Alliant Says Some Customers Were Overcharged After Derecho

If you opened your most recent bill from Alliant Energy and said to yourself, "Why is it so high? I didn't have power for a week!", you're not alone! KCRG reports that Alliant customers were potentially overcharged on their August bill. That would be bad enough in and of itself. But many customers were without power for days and weeks after the August 10th derecho!

The overcharge, according to KCRG, is when Alliant customers were charged a "basic service charge" every day. Yes, some were even charged on days that they didn't have power. The overage could be worth thousands of dollars collectively. According to the Iowa Utilities Board, there is no rule for if that charge applies to residents even if they don't have any power. However, KCRG says that Alliant will credit the overcharge in each customer's bill for as many days as they were without power.

An attorney for Alliant Energy has notified the Iowa Utilities Board that it will be adjusting customers bills that were affected by the August 10th storm. Alliant also confirmed that some of it's customers received an unusually high bill because they were sent out an estimated bill. KCRG reports that the bills for estimated usage were sent out to some customers because they couldn't get to or read a meter due to storm damage, or the customer simply didn't have power.

Those customers will receive a corrected bill from Alliant that properly reflects their actual energy usage.