ALLIANT ENERGY CORPORATION

ALLIANT ENERGY CORPORATION. Alliant Energy Corporation is a public utility holding company which incorporated in 1981. (1) In 2013 corporate headquarters were located in Madison, Wisconsin. General offices were located in Cedar Rapids and Dubuque, Iowa; utility operation facilities are located in communities throughout the utility's service territory in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. (2) Alliant Energy's two regulated utilities include Interstate Power and Light Company (IPL) and Wisconsin Power and Light Company (WPL). IPL started in 1925 as the INTERSTATE POWER COMPANY (IPC) and which was a consolidation of several small utility companies scattered across northern Iowa and southern Minnesota. IPC merged or consolidated with several other Iowa based utilities before forming IPL, which was later merged with WPL.

IPC expanded greatly in the late 1920s to include operations in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Manitoba (Canada). In the late 1920s one of the largest purchases was what became its northern Minnesota territory from the Wilbur Foshay interests.

In the 1930s and 1940s, the effects of the GREAT DEPRESSION and passage of laws to regulate utility operations at the state and federal level had an effect on IPC. In Iowa, the legislature passed laws making it easier for cities to establish municipal utilities.

During the 1940s, IPC divested itself of all its operations that were not part of its main territory in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa. As IPC sold its properties that were isolated from the main system, it picked up others that were adjacent to its system and more easily interconnected: the Eastern Iowa Power system, and the Iowa and Minnesota properties of the Central States Power and Light Corporation.

The other part of IPL — IES Utilities — incorporated in Iowa in 1925 as the Iowa Railway and Light Corporation. (3) IES and IPC merged in the mid-1990s to form IPL. In 2013, IPL provided electricity and gas to communities in Iowa and southern Minnesota; while WPL serves southern and central Wisconsin. (4)

In the 1970s IES constructed the Duane Arnold Energy Center, a 615 MW nuclear plant in Palo, Iowa. In 2006, Alliant closed a deal with FPL Energy to sell their interest in the plant. (4)

Alliant Energy has also provided several non-regulated services, including ground transportation and energy engineering such as wind and geothermal energy.

In 2011 the Dubuque plant, which had been the largest emitter or carbon dioxide in the city, switched from coal to natural gas. (5)

From June 2011 through early 2012 the Smarter Electricity Pilot Study was a project of Smarter Sustainable Dubuque the City’s partnership with IBM Research and a component of the Sustainable Dubuque initiative. (6) This project, conducted in partnership with Alliant Energy - Interstate Power and Light Company and IBM Research, was funded by a $1.4 million grant from the Iowa Office of Energy Independence. More than 1,200 households volunteered to participate in Dubuque’s Smarter Electricity Pilot Study, exceeding the target of 1,000.

IBM and Alliant Energy’s roles in this project were to provide the technology and services allowing volunteer participants to monitor their electric energy consumption. (7) Throughout the study, anonymous electricity usage data was collected and analyzed, providing volunteer households with information, insights, and actionable intelligence to potentially lower their energy costs. The study is utilizing “cloud computing,” or internet-based computing, to enable citizens to access information about their energy usage and habits and share best practices through the portal over a six-month period. (8)

In 2014 the announcement was made that the shutdown of the Alliant Energy plant in Dubuque, scheduled for 2015, would be delayed. The date would now be no sooner than December 31, 2016. A recent study by the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO) determined the site was not ready. The Dubuque plant in 2014 was considered a "peak plant," one that did not supply energy to consumers on a daily basis. The plant only operated when the energy demand was high. The Dubuque plant also operated when other plants were not working properly or were under repair. Since the plans to shut it down were announced, the plant had switched from coal to gas making it more environmentally sound. (9)

After more than 100 years, The plant in Dubuque was scheduled to be closed in June of 2017. It only operated once in a while and was not needed to maintain reliable service. The thirteen people who currently worked there were offered jobs at other plants. (10)

In 2016 the announcement was made that due to a drop in the cost of solar energy, a proposed solar array constructed in Dubuque beginning in 2016 would be the largest single site in the state of Iowa, according to officials with Alliant Energy Corporation. The two sites, which would span 32 acres could be operational by the end of 2017. One of the sites would be located on 26 acres just west of Dubuque's industrial parks, and the other closer to downtown, on the site of the old A.Y. McDonald foundry. (11)

The project, according to company officials in Dubuque, would provide a blueprint for how solar energy could best be used. Both of the sites, a growing industrial site and a vacant former industrial site, were very common in Iowa. By developing these two sites, the company hoped to learn how to develop sites like that across the state. (12)

The site located closer to downtown would also provide a more strategic outcome for both Alliant and the city. When completed, the entire system, operating in ideal conditions, could generate four megawatts of energy, or more practically, power more than 500 homes each year. The cost of the project would be Alliant's, and it would not cost the city any out of pocket expenses. (13)

In December 2016 Alliant officials announced that construction of the solar array would begin in the spring of 2017. (14) In May of 2017 work began on a $10 million project to install 15,624 solar panels on 21 acres in Dubuque Industrial Center West north of Humke Road. Under ideal conditions, the site would be capable of generating 5 megawatts of energy, enough to power 725 homes. (15) Crews were also to install solar panels on six acres along Highway 61/151 near the 16th Street detention basin. (16)

Alliant Energy permanently removed its Dubuque power plant from operation on May 30, 2017. According to company officials, the plant was a "peaker" - used only during peak energy demand. The opening of the Marshalltown Generating Station in April provided Alliant with sufficient resources. The closure affected a dozen workers. They were notified about closure plans several years ago. (17) Asbestos abatement on the property was planned to start in October, 2017. Once that was finished, the building was expected to be demolished. (18)

Officials of the company announced in September, 2017 plans to upgrade residential and small-business electric meters in Dubuque with "smart meters" beginning in October. Smart meters emitted radio frequencies for a few seconds each day that communicated data about a customer's energy usage. According to the officials, the meters' benefits would include shorter power outages and more reliable billing. (19)

---

Source:

1. Alliant Energy. "Company Information," Website. Online: http://www.alliantenergy.com/AboutAlliantEnergy/CompanyInformation/

2. Alliant Energy, Form 10K, Annual Report, February 26, 2010 p.2. Online: http://edgar.secdatabase.com/1438/35254110000009/filing-main.htm

3. Ibid., p.10

4. Alliant Energy. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliant_Energy

5. Montgomery, Jeff. "Alliant Plant Shuts Down for Good," Telegraph Herald, June 1, 2017, p. 3A

6. Grillo, Terry. "Smart Electricity Data Powers Savings in Iowa Experiment," Government Technology, September 16, 2011. Online: http://www.govtech.com/technology/Smart-Electricity-Data-Powers-Savings-in-Iowa-Experiment.html

7. "Smarter Electricity," City of Dubuque-Official Website. Online: http://www.cityofdubuque.org/index.aspx?NID=1349

8. "City of Dubuque Launches Smarter Electricity Portal," KCRG.com. August 26, 2011. Online: http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/City-of-Dubuque-Launches-Smarter-Electricity-Portal-128467533.html

9. Montgomery, Jeff. "Alliant Plant in Dubuque Won't Shut Down until '16," Telegraph Herald, November 19, 2014, p. 5A

10. Descorbeth, Shirley. "Alliant Closing Dubuque Plant," KWWL.com. November 30, 2015, Online: http://www.kwwl.com/story/30634108/2015/11/30/alliant-closing-dubuque-plant

11.Hanson, Brad. "Proposed Dubuque Solar Array Would be the Largest in the State," KWWL.com, June 23, 2016. Online: http://www.kwwl.com/story/32296895/2016/06/23/proposed-dubuque-solar-array-would-be-largest-in-state

12. Ibid.

13. Ibid.

14. Montgomery, Jeff. "Alliant, Dubuque Share Energy Future," Telegraph Herald, December 4, 2016, p. 19A

15. Montgomery, Jeff. "Alliant: Bright Future for Solar," Telegraph Herald, May 19, 2017, p. 1A

16. "Alliant Energy Turns off Dubuque Power Plant For Good," KWWL.com Online: http://www.kwwl.com/story/35569259/2017/6/1/alliant-energy-turns-off-dubuque-power-plant-for-good

17. Ibid.

18. Montgomery.

19. Montgomery, Jeff. "Alliant Plans 'Smart' Upgrade for Meters in Dubuque Area," Telegraph Herald, September 30, 2017, p. 1A