Moratorium, general applications start November 1
Every year from November 1 to April 1, all Iowa electric and natural gas utilities participate in a moratorium of disconnection of service for qualifying customers of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), administered by the Iowa Department of Human Rights. Customers facing hardship in paying for utility service can work with their local community action agency to apply for LIHEAP energy assistance funds, which also protects those customers’ households from utility disconnection.
The application period for LIHEAP began October 1 for households with a resident age 60 or older, a disabled resident, or those who are in housing crisis. Applications for all other renters and homeowners who fall within federal poverty guidelines are accepted beginning November 1. The application period for everyone continues until April 30.
Iowa Administrative Code rules require that electric and natural gas utilities do not conduct disconnection of service during the five-month period for households certified by a community action agency as eligible for LIHEAP or its companion weatherization assistance program. Additionally, customers who inform their electric or natural gas provider that they are applying for LIHEAP are afforded a 30-day stay of disconnection to allow that application to be processed by the customer’s community action agency. That also applies to applicants who qualify for the October 1 application period.
Community action agencies exist in every Iowa county to help Iowans apply for LIHEAP and to disburse energy assistance funds on behalf of utility customers. LIHEAP is a federally funded program administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
IUC staff is actively working with HHS staff to monitor funding updates and plans to provide increased coordination, if needed, to ensure service for at-risk Iowans.
Beyond LIHEAP, Iowa law requires utilities to operate a fund that allows its customers to voluntarily contribute money for deposit in a low-income heating assistance fund. These fund programs go by different names (Project Share, I CARE, etc.), but they all assist low-income consumers with paying energy bills and paying for weatherization of their homes.
Information on LIHEAP and community action agencies is available on the Iowa HHS website, or find out more about how to apply on the IUC website.
The IUC will host a winter preparedness meeting at 10 a.m. Thursday, November 6, to discuss Iowa utilities’ plans for responding to potential extreme weather and high energy demand during the winter of 2025-2026.
Seasonal preparedness meetings have been held prior to the summer and winter seasons since May 2022. The meetings serve as forums for the IUC, utilities, trade organizations, and any other interested parties to identify challenges and solutions for maintaining the reliability of the electric system in Iowa.
The IUC has provided a list of questions regarding winter preparedness and grid resilience for Iowa’s rate-regulated utilities to answer, but any interested party, including other Iowa electric utilities, are welcome to file responses in Docket No. INU-2025-0002.
Anyone interested in participating in the meeting should file a notice of intent to participate in the docket by October 30.
The IUC voted unanimously last month to file comments with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in support of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) Long Range Transmission Plan (LRTP) Tranche 2.1 transmission project plan. The IUC’s comments, filed in FERC Docket EL25-109, were among more than 20 sets of comments submitted by a range of entities in response to a complaint filed by five states in the MISO region regarding MISO’s business case for Tranche 2.1.
In addition to expressing general support for MISO’s LRTP process, the IUC comments make the case that reconsidering Tranche 2.1 will delay the study of all generation projects in MISO’s already delayed 2023 Generator Interconnection (GI) study queue and the Expedited Resource Addition Study (ERAS) process, and that some work that is already underway on these transmission projects would need to be halted.
What is the MISO Tranche 2.1 Plan?
The MISO LRTP is a multi-phase effort to build a stronger, more reliable, and more efficient electric grid across 15 states in the Midwest and South, including Iowa. Tranche 2.1 is the second phase of this plan, approved by MISO's board in December 2024. This phase involves a proposed $21.8 billion investment for 24 projects aimed at creating a high-voltage transmission backbone, which will improve grid reliability and help integrate new sources of energy. Several projects in Tranche 2.1 are located in Iowa.
The plan aims to strengthen the grid against extreme weather events and enable the transmission of a significant amount of new, low-cost renewable energy, such as wind and solar, to where it's needed most. MISO's analysis projects a benefit-to-cost ratio ranging from 1.8 to 3.5, indicating that the value of the projects — through improved reliability, reduced congestion, and economic development — will far outweigh their costs.
At the end of August, the IUC’s Safety & Engineering Bureau (S&E) separated into two new bureaus: Pipeline Safety & Engineering and Electric Safety & Engineering. Additionally, a pipeline bureau manager role was added to the staff. The restructuring allows staff and subject matter experts from each bureau to more effectively dedicate their time to their specialized roles.
While both the Pipeline and Electric teams have similar daily work tasks — both have engineering and inspector roles and perform a variety of safety-related work for the agency — each is also different enough that duties are not interchangeable.
- Pipeline S&E serves as a state agent for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), and pipeline staff performs safety inspections on the natural gas distribution and transmission systems in Iowa on behalf of PHMSA.
- Electric S&E adopts the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC) in Chapter 25 of the Iowa Administrative Code, and staff in that bureau perform safety inspections from adoption of that code.
Operating separate bureaus will now allow the leadership and staff on both teams to better focus their time on their respective programs. The IUC believes this will increase the overall efficiency of both teams and Safety & Engineering projects as a whole.
The IUC welcomed two new members of the executive team in August.
Ralph Marasco is the agency’s new General Counsel. Ralph joins us from the Office of the Polk County Attorney, where he served as counsel support of county elected officials and county departments, while providing leadership in the County Attorney’s office Civil Division. Ralph began with the IUC on August 15.
Nichol Toomire, Chief Operating Officer, began August 29. Nichol has spent 25 years in the utility industry. As COO, she will oversee the day-to-day operations of the IUC and provide support to both the Commissioners and staff at large. She has called on her team to help further define the COO role and look for areas of continued growth and strategy within the agency as we support the state and our utility partners.
In addition, Melissa Myers has been named the agency’s new Communications Director. Melissa has been with the IUC seven years and was formerly the IUC’s Communications Specialist.
The IUC has dubbed its promotional efforts around Iowa’s One Call law and 811 education the “One Call Road Show," and staff is ready for a busy season of visiting Iowa communities and schools to explain the importance of calling 811 before you dig.
Fall outreach programs kicked off on October 7, when the team was in Osage to discuss safe digging and damage prevention with the public and the city’s employees, contractors, and utility partners. The free presentation was held at the Osage Public Safety Center.
As part of ongoing outreach, the IUC also has scheduled several visits to schools to teach third- and fourth-graders about the importance of Iowa’s One Call law and calling 811 to schedule a utility locate before beginning any excavation project. This effort will help build awareness at an early age!
If you know of an organization, school, or community group that is interested in hosting a presentation or learning more about this vital safety program — and Iowa’s One Call law — contact Greg Witzenburg at gregory.witzenburg@iuc.iowa.gov or call 515-528-6933 to schedule a visit.
One-year appointment provides 'important seat at the table'
IUC Chair Sarah Martz has been appointed to serve on the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Federal and State Current Issues Collaborative, NARUC announced in September.
NARUC provides two state commission representatives to the Collaborative from each of the five NARUC regions. Iowa is part of the Mid-America Regulatory Conference (MARC).
Chair Martz will serve a one-year appointment on the Collaborative, which was established by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in March 2024. It is the most recent effort that brings together federal and state utility regulators, following the Joint Federal-State Task Force on Electric Transmission that concluded last year.
“For more than 100 years, state public utility commissioners have planned, managed, studied, and led our nation’s essential energy services,” NARUC President Tricia Pridemore said in announcing the appointments. “This year’s state members of the FERC-NARUC Collaborative carry on this legacy and establish critical communications with federal partners.”
IUC Commissioner Josh Byrnes emphasized the importance of Chair Martz’s role with the Collaborative, noting that “it’s really important for the State of Iowa that we have a seat at that table.”
“For the next year, Chair Martz will be at that table having the important conversations,” Byrnes said. “That presence matters — for our industry, for the ratepayers, and for the utilities we regulate — because it ensures Iowa’s voice is part of the ongoing dialogue and collaboration with the FERC Commissioners.”
Martz, who began serving with the IUC in 2023, said she is honored to have been named onto the Collaborative and is excited to represent Iowa’s interests at the state and federal venue.
The appointment runs through August 2026. You can view a list of other appointees to the collaborative on the IUC website.
MidAmerican Energy Company (MidAmerican) filed an application for advance ratemaking principles on February 17, 2025, for up to 800 megawatts of solar generation. On July 28, a settlement, to which there was no opposition, was filed in the docket, Docket No. RPU-2025-0001.
The IUC issued an order approving the settlement ratemaking principles without modification on September 11, 2025; however, one Commissioner dissented to the order.
The dissent, by Commission Chair Martz, centered around whether certain ratemaking principles should have been allowed within the docket and the costs the principles would add to ratepayers without any prudency review.
MidAmerican filed its acceptance of the ratemaking principles in the docket on September 12.
The IUC released its finalized FY26 Operational Plan in August. The plan had previously been updated in 2024 along with the agency’s FY24-29 Strategic Plan.
The purpose of the Operational Plan is to provide an organized description of agency programs, associated operational goals, and specific action steps to describe efforts to achieve positive outcomes on behalf of stakeholders.
In FY26, the IUC will support the enterprise priorities, Energy and Government Efficiency, and the IUC’s strategic plan’s three initiatives:
- Deliver Exceptional Customer Experience
- Build Employee Excellence
- Pursue an Efficient and Effective Regulatory Environment
The IUC Operational Plan can be found on the Iowa Department of Management’s website.
Video available to learn more about the agency
The IUC recently concluded its yearly customer service meetings, providing utility industry personnel and community action agency members with information on the IUC’s jurisdiction, disconnection rules, and LIHEAP/moratorium information.
Two sessions, held on September 23 and 29, were led by IUC Customer Service staff and legal counsel. We had attendance of 258 people over both meetings. Participants learned about:
- Regulatory Oversight: A briefing on the scope of the IUC’s authority and mandated compliance requirements for utilities.
- Delinquency & LIHEAP: A detailed review of rules governing service disconnection procedures, including compliance with the annual winter moratorium and LIHEAP.
- Complaint Evaluation: Instruction on the formal processes for utilities to handle and resolve customer complaints submitted through the IUC.
- Legislative & Agency Updates: Information on recent leadership changes, legislative changes, and administrative updates.
A key component of the sessions each year involves IUC staff providing direct answers to questions, particularly those concerning customer deposits and payment agreements.
“Staff appreciated the audience participation and would like to extend a thank you to OCA Consumer Advocate Lanny Zieman and Health and Human Services staff members Bill Marquess and Karen Henry for their participation,” Customer Service Bureau Chief Marie Jeanblanc said.
One of the sessions was recorded and the video can be viewed on the IUC YouTube channel. For more information about the topics addressed in the meetings or future sessions, email customer@iuc.iowa.gov.
The IUC had the honor of hosting the annual National Association of Pipeline Safety Representatives (NAPSR) Central Region Meeting Conference from July 22-24. We welcomed Program Managers and staff from all 11 states in our region to the Des Moines Airport Holiday Inn.
Regional representatives came from Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin for a collaborative conference to share pipeline safety program successes, navigate common challenges, and exchange valuable insights to strengthen pipeline safety across the Midwest.
The conference provided numerous learning opportunities, featuring guest presentations from USDI and Prairie Utilities. Their experts provided valuable guidance on assisting small operators with obtaining the necessary Operator Qualification (OQ) plans and manuals, and they delivered an insightful session on the growing field of renewable natural gas.
A highlight of the event was a field trip to the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities (IAMU) campus. There, attendees received a firsthand look at how IAMU supports smaller municipalities with regulatory compliance and other operational issues. The tour of their facilities showcased the hands-on training programs they provide to ensure a qualified and safe workforce.
Each state also gave a "State of the State" presentation, during which each representative provided updates and unique developments from their respective programs.
This conference rotates annually, and Iowa will not host again for more than a decade. However, as a testament to the quality of the IUC team’s work, the agency received high praise from the NAPSR President and other Program Managers for its presentation at the Central Region Conference and has been invited to present at the NAPSR National Conference to be held October 21-24 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
In January 2023, Gov. Kim Reynolds issued Executive Order 10 (EO10), which required a comprehensive review of administrative rules by all State agencies. The IUC was required to complete its Rule Report by September 2025 and its review by December 31, 2025.
The IUC completed its full review earlier this year, with the final rule chapters becoming effective in July 2025. Under revised Iowa Code chapter 17A, the rules will automatically rescind five years from the date the chapter becomes effective after its latest review as a whole.
You can read more about the EO10 process, the rule review schedule, and orders issued with each new chapter on the IUC website Executive Order 10 – Administrative Rulemaking Review page.
 IUC Chair Sarah Martz, far right, was joined by representatives of the Iowa Attorney General's Office, Iowa One Call, and Common Ground Iowa in recognizing 811 Day at the Iowa State Fair with a proclamation signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds and presented by Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer.
IUC staff was back at the Iowa State Fair this summer, sharing a booth with Iowa One Call representatives to help educate the public about the importance of safe digging and calling 811 before starting any excavation projects. Our staff was on hand to answer questions, share materials, and engage with attendees of all ages — and hand out pencils, magnets, rain gauges, yardsticks, and more.
Again this year, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a proclamation designating August 11 as 811 Day in Iowa. Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer visited the Iowa Attorney General’s Office booth for a photo with One Call partners to show strong state-level support for safe digging practices and recognize the importance of calling 811 to protect public safety and infrastructure.
Public Hearings
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HLP-2025-0001: Trailblazer CO2 Pipeline, LLC - 1 p.m. December 2, IUC Hearing Room
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GCU-2025-0004: River City Energy - 8 a.m. December 16-18, Historic Park Inn Hotel, 15 W. State St., Mason City
Informational Meetings and Other IUC Proceedings
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E-22548, E-22549: Scheduling Conference, 10 a.m. October 8, IUC Hearing Room
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P-0910: Scheduling Conference, noon October 14, IUC Hearing Room
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E-22555: Scheduling Conference, 2 p.m. October 14, IUC Hearing Room
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NOI-2025-0002: Technical Conference, 9 a.m. November 5, IUC Hearing Room
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INU-2025-0002: Winter Preparedness Meeting, 10 a.m. November 6, IUC Hearing Room
- Southwest Power Pool Winter Preparedness Stakeholder Meeting, 9 a.m. November 18, IUC Hearing Room
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RMU-2025-0020: Rulemaking Technical Conference, 1 p.m. November 18, IUC Hearing Room
- MISO Updates Meeting, 1 p.m. November 6, IUC Hearing Room
Monthly Commission Meetings
- October 15
- November 19
- December (date to be determined)
Monthly Commission meetings begin at 9 a.m. unless otherwise noted. Meetings can be observed via the IUC’s YouTube channel. To join meetings with virtual options, find the link on the IUC calendar online.
Holiday Office Closures
- November 11 – Veterans Day
- November 27-28 – Thanksgiving
- December 25 – Christmas
- January 1 – New Year’s Day
IUC and OCA offices are closed on official State holidays, though EFS and IUB 24/7 remain available. Filings will be processed on the next working day. Office closures are also posted on the IUC website, iuc.iowa.gov.
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