News : Alliant Energy natural gas customers should see winter heating bills stay flat

Natural gas customers of Alliant Energy subsidiary Interstate Power and Light Company (IPL) should continue to see some relief in their natural gas costs again this winter heating season.

IPL expects the average residential natural gas customer to see winter heating costs about the same as last year - $620 for the six-month period from October 1 through March 31. This forecast is based on the current market, the percentage of IPL’s gas costs that are already fixed through storage or locked-in contract prices, and normal winter weather.

Lower natural gas prices and some warmer weather across Iowa during the 2009-2010 winter heating season translated into a 16 percent savings for the average IPL natural gas customer compared to the 2008-2009 winter heating season. The Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts natural gas prices to remain below their five-year average into 2011.

For more information on natural gas, including safety and energy efficiency tips, please visit alliantenergy.com/naturalgas.

Alliant Energy is an energy-services provider with subsidiaries serving approximately 1 million electric and over 412,000 natural gas customers. Providing its customers in the Midwest with regulated electric and natural gas service is the company’s primary focus. Interstate Power and Light, the company's Iowa and Minnesota utility subsidiary, serves approximately 525,000 electric and 230,000 natural gas customers. Alliant Energy, headquartered in Madison, Wis., is a Fortune 1000 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LNT. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.alliantenergy.com.