Alliant Energy Gets $5.1B DOE Loan for Gas and Storage in Iowa, Wisconsin
Alliant Energy's $5.1 billion DOE loan package could fund up to 1.6 GW of new gas, 1 GW of storage and 2 BCF of LNG storage, but each project still needs regulatory approval.
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The loan package closed on Oct. 28; the 2.6 GW capacity is a DOE figure and the 30-year term is Alliant's, per its release.
Illustration (AI-generated)
The US Department of Energy closed a $5.1 billion loan package to Alliant Energy on Oct. 28 to fund new gas-fired generation, energy storage and plant upgrades in Iowa and Wisconsin, Reuters reported.
DOE said the loans will deliver more than 2.6 GW of new or upgraded generation capacity, which it equates to power for nearly 1.8 million homes. The lender is DOE's Office of Energy Dominance Financing, the office called the Loan Programs Office under the Biden administration. Alliant said in its own release that the package gives it access to up to $5.1 billion of lower-cost capital, subject to project advancement, qualification and financing terms.
Alliant lists these as projects it may pursue, not a limiting list; the sizes are separate and are not a sum of DOE's 2.6 GW figure.
Illustration (AI-generated)
For power planners, the notable part is the mix. Alliant said it may pursue, though the list is not limiting, 1.6 GW of new natural gas generation, 240 MW of added capacity at existing gas plants, 1 GW of energy storage and 2 BCF (billion cubic feet) of liquefied natural gas storage. The release does not say how much of the storage would serve which plant.
Alliant Energy Loan Costs, Savings and Terms
Alliant projects up to $1.2 billion in cumulative customer savings over the 30-year loans, and more than 1,600 local jobs during construction. Both are company projections; DOE, as relayed by Reuters, put construction jobs at "hundreds", a smaller figure. Reuters noted that any drop in electricity costs could take many years because the loans run over decades.
The loan began as a conditional commitment of $3 billion, proposed by the Biden administration in January 2025, according to Reuters. It has since grown to $5.1 billion. Reuters also reported that the office's mission has widened from emerging clean-energy projects to include gas, which can usually obtain bank financing, while energy storage was supported in both the initial and the closed loan.
Alliant serves more than 1 million electric customers and 435,000 natural gas customers across Iowa and Wisconsin through its subsidiaries Interstate Power and Light and Wisconsin Power and Light. Local resistance to gas build-out is a live risk for the company. As Voltgrid reported, Linn County, Iowa, supervisors voted 3-0 on Oct. 20 to deny rezoning for Alliant's 720-MW Morgan Valley gas plant, and the Iowa Utilities Commission can still override that vote. Neither source says whether Morgan Valley is among the projects the loan could fund.
What a Closed DOE Loan Does and Does Not Fund
A closed loan means the paperwork is signed and the money is available; it is not a list of approved plants. The projects Alliant named are ones it may pursue, and each still goes through a regulatory process, so the first plant-level filings, not the loan, will show what gets built and when.
What Is Still Unconfirmed About the Projects
Alliant said every proposed project will go through a regulatory process, so a closed loan is not an approval of any plant. Neither the company release nor Reuters names the sites, the split between the two utilities, the in-service dates, or how much of the capacity is meant for data-center load. The 2.6 GW DOE figure covers new and upgraded generation, and the sources do not show how it relates to the project list in Alliant's release. Watch for state commission filings that name specific plants and costs.
