(Des Moines)– State regulators will hold three public hearings on a request by a South Dakota-based utility for a 2.9 percent rate increase for its natural gas customers in Iowa.
Even though the utility has a large number of customers in the Iowa Great Lakes and surrounding area, none of the hearings will be held here. The Iowa Utilities Board has scheduled the hearings for Newton on June 29th; Dubuque on June 30th and Council Bluffs on July 1st.
Black Hills Energy of Rapid City, South Dakota, has filed a request for a $4.7 million increase in annual revenues to recover the costs of capital investments in its Iowa distribution system and other expenses.
If granted, monthly bills of residential customers would go up by about 3.4 percent.
The Utilities Board says under Iowa law, a temporary rate increase of 1.6 percent, or $2.6 million, doesn’t require pre-approval and goes into effect Friday (6/18).
(From the Associated Press).
