MidAmerican requests Iowa gas delivery rate increase

Des Moines, Iowa (KWQC)- Natural gas delivery rates could be increasing across the state of Iowa.

MidAmerican Energy says they plan to file a request with the Iowa Utilities Board next week seeking the board’s approval for an increase to its natural gas delivery rates in Iowa.

MidAmerican projects its request would result in an average 6% increase of total monthly gas bills in Iowa. This would be the company’s first gas rate increase since 2002.

If approved, the average residential customer would see an estimated monthly gas bill increase of less than $5, or $60 per year. If this trend continues, MidAmerican estimates that customers will see an estimated 30% decrease in their year-over-year bills.

“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,” Nick Nation, vice president of gas delivery at MidAmerican, said.

This request will help ensure we can continue to dependably deliver natural gas to homes and businesses in the communities we serve” Nation said.

MidAmerican’s natural gas customer base has increased by nearly 100,000 customers, or 20%, since 2002. The communities MidAmerican serves are growing, too, requiring the addition and relocation of gas facilities to accommodate the construction, maintenance or repair of roads and bridges and other public improvements.

In efforts to maintain safety and reliability, MidAmerican has invested in many capital projects and upgrades.

Cybersecurity and physical threats to the gas delivery system have changed because of attacks on gas pipelines. New security standards required by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, which is tasked with safeguarding pipelines, have been implemented, increasing compliance costs.

The proposed change would affect gas delivery base rates, which are part of the delivery portion of a bill. Delivery base rates include monthly charges and costs associated with providing gas service to customers and ensuring system safety.

The increase however, does not affect the supply portion of monthly bills, which reflects the supply of gas MidAmerican buys each month.

While MidAmerican’s rate increase request is pending with the Iowa Utilities Board, state law allows the company to implement an interim rate increase, which would result in a 5% average increase of total monthly gas bills.

Once MidAmerican files its rate increase request with the Iowa Utilities Board, the board will begin a process to determine whether the proposed rate increase is justified and reasonable. The board will seek comments from customers and interested parties and make a final determination in May of next year.

The schedule for the public meetings dates, times, and location are below:

Sioux City – 6 p.m. Monday, July 24, Sioux City Convention Center, 801 Fourth St.

Waterloo – 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 26, Majestic Moon, 1955 Locke Ave.

Des Moines – 6 p.m. Thursday, July 27, Holiday Inn Des Moines-Airport Conference Center, 6111 Fleur Drive.

Davenport – 6 p.m. Monday, July 31, The River Center, 136 E. Third St.

Cedar Rapids – 6 p.m. Tuesday, August 1, The Olympic South Side Theater, 1202 Third St. S.E., Suite 200.

Virtual – 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Thursday, August 3

Details about participating online and at the customer comment meetings are available on the IUB’s website, iub.iowa.gov.