MADISON, Wis., March 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Wisconsin Power and Light Company (WP&L), an Alliant Energy Company , filed a request today with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW) to adjust its retail electric and natural gas rates, effective January 1, 2007. The request seeks to recover both actual and anticipated costs of operating the electric and natural gas delivery system infrastructure.
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WP&L is requesting to increase retail electric base rates by approximately $87.7 million (8.58 percent) and natural gas service rates by approximately $8.7 million (2.86 percent). The cost drivers in this case included previously approved deferred fuel expenses related to unplanned outages at the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant in 2004 and 2005, increased spending on customer conservation efforts, and an increase in transmission costs, and general operational costs. The overall increase was offset by deferred labor cost savings resulting from workforce reductions, reduced lease costs associated with the Sheboygan Falls Energy Center, and lower depreciation expenses.
"We worked diligently to control the majority of our operational costs, however, it is necessary for us to collect for deferred fuel expenses we have already incurred and to recover increased conservation and transmission expenses," said Barbara J. Swan, President-WP&L. "The costs included in this rate case are necessary to ensure we can continue to provide our customers with safe, reliable and environmentally responsible electric and natural gas utility service, while advancing Wisconsin's opportunity for long-term economic growth."
It is anticipated that the requested changes in electric rates would be applied to the base rates established by the PSCW on July 19, 2005 and assumes the interim retail electric revenue increase granted to WP&L related to the pending fuel-only rate cases filed in August and November, 2005. If the amount received by WP&L in the final order in the pending fuel-only rate case is lower than the interim increase received in December 2005, it is anticipated that the difference will result in WP&L needing to update the rate change requests filed today. In addition, WP&L expects to file a fuel-only rate case in late 2006 to counter increasing fuel costs.
WP&L also filed a proposed pricing structure with the PSCW which reflects the estimated rate changes for specific classes of customers. In both the base rate case filed today and the fuel-only rate case planned to be filed later this year, the impact of updated costs has the potential to be substantial due to fuel and purchased power costs, which are due to the volatile nature of natural gas markets.
If the proposed base rate revenue change were applied to the current rate levels and a fuel-only rate case planned to be filed later this year, typical residential electric customers using 600 kWh per month would see a monthly increase of approximately $8.62 on their bills. Typical residential natural gas customers using 800 therms annually would see a monthly increase of approximately $1.19. The actual amount may vary depending on the outcome of the pending and anticipated fuel-only cases and associated rate designs approved by the Commission.
The approval process for the base rate case is expected to take approximately nine months, resulting in new rates becoming effective on or about January 1, 2007. All rate changes must be approved by the PSCW after a thorough review of the data and after obtaining input from the public.
Alliant Energy is an energy-services provider with subsidiaries serving approximately 1 million electric and over 400,000 natural gas customers. Providing its customers in the Midwest with regulated electricity and natural gas service is the company's primary focus. Wisconsin Power and Light, the company's Wisconsin utility subsidiary, serves 446,000 electric and 177,000 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 http://www.alliantenergy.com/ .
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