Alliant Energy has issued an apology to customers in Iowa regarding the company’s billing process. According to the energy company, many customers had higher energy usage this summer than last summer but had received only estimated bills. Now, bills sent are accurate and a higher total cost was figured based on the true usage. Alliant Energy’s computer system was adjusting for possible mistakes in the meter reading process based on previous usage. A new billing system was installed recently and has more checks and reviews to make sure bills are accurate, including taking a closer look at current energy usage. According to the company, the new system unexpectedly “sent more bills than ever before to billing representatives” to be reviewed. Staff did not have enough time to review all of these bills and the system automatically sent out the estimated bills.

Alliant Energy is working with customers to spread out recent high bills over the next 12 months and they have temporarily stopped disconnection for customers impacted by this. The company is also hiring more employees to help review future bills and they are waiving late payment fees for affected customers.