Residential natural gas customers of Alliant Energy in Wisconsin will see a second step up in their bills on Jan. 1, 2027, about $1.50 a month by the company’s own account. The increase follows roughly $2 a month that took effect Jan. 1, 2026, and both come from a two-year rate settlement the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approved in late 2025. Alliant’s electric customers face a larger step on the same date, about $8 a month.
The $1.50 is an approximate residential figure, not a bill amount for every household. A home that burns more gas than the typical customer will pay more, and a small apartment will pay less. Alliant’s published figure comes with no stated therm usage, so it works best as a size-of-the-move number rather than a prediction for any one account.
What the Jan. 1 gas increase is, and who pays it
Alliant’s own Wisconsin rate review page lists the residential changes for both years of the biennial filing. For gas it reads: “About $2 a month increase in 2026 (~3%) and another $1.50 a month in 2027 (~2%).” For electricity the same page says “About $4 a month increase in 2026 (~3.5%) and another $8 a month in 2027 (~6%).”
The people affected are Alliant’s Wisconsin residential customers who buy natural gas from the company. Customers who heat with propane, fuel oil or a different utility’s gas service are not covered, and neither are Alliant’s customers in other states. The rates were set in docket 6680-UR-125 at the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, and the page ties both steps to that case.
Households that take both fuels from Alliant would see the two increases land together on Jan. 1, about $1.50 on the gas side and about $8 on the electric side, before any change in how much energy the household uses.
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How much will a household actually notice?
The practical effect depends on winter use. A gas increase that looks small as a monthly average is spread across a year, and gas bills swing hardest from December through March. A percentage-based rate change is felt most in the cold months, when the most gas is burned.
Alliant sends customers to the usage history inside its online account instead of publishing a therm assumption. The company’s Wisconsin bill rates page points people to My Account to see their individual usage, and that history is the fastest way to compare a customer’s own winter bills against the roughly 2% average.
What the settlement allowed Alliant to charge
Alliant announced the settlement on Sept. 3, 2025, when it was filed with the commission. The company’s release says it covers electric and natural gas rates for 2026 and 2027, was reached with intervenors including the Citizens Utility Board, Clean Wisconsin, RENEW Wisconsin, IBEW Local 965 and Walmart, and remained subject to final commission approval.
That filing expressed the changes in percentages for all customers rather than in dollars. Natural gas rates rise 5.6% in 2026 and a further 3.9% in 2027, and electric rates 5.4% and 5%. The release sets an authorized return on equity of 9.8% and a 53% equity layer, and states no dollar amounts or residential usage assumptions.
David de Leon, president of Alliant Energy’s Wisconsin energy company, said the filing “reflects the collaborative effort among stakeholders.” Alliant’s customer page shows the residential gas effect at about 2% for 2027, below the 3.9% in the settlement summary, and neither document states the usage behind its number. Customers comparing the two should treat the roughly 2% as Alliant’s residential estimate.
Will budget billing or a payment program help?
Budget billing does not lower the total a household pays, but it spreads the cost into a level monthly amount so a January gas bill does not arrive as a spike. Alliant publishes a Wisconsin budget billing guide for both residential and business customers.
The settlement also includes a pilot Customer Affordability Program, a $26 monthly bill credit for eligible low- and moderate-income customers, per Alliant’s release. The company runs a separate payment assistance page that describes its help for customers who fall behind. The eligibility rules for both are on those pages, and a customer service call before Jan. 1 is the way to find out which, if either, applies to a given account.
What is still open for Wisconsin gas customers?
The Jan. 1 step is already approved, so no further commission vote is needed for it to take effect. What remains open is the size for each household: the average is about $1.50 a month, but a customer’s own number depends on the winter ahead. Households that want certainty can ask about a level payment before the new rates begin.
Last winter’s gas bills in My Account show how much gas a household actually used, which is the number that decides whether the increase is closer to the $1.50 average or well above it.
Calling Alliant before the Jan. 1 rates start?
A rate step of $1.50 on gas and $8 on electricity does not sound like much, but the call that gets a payment plan, budget billing or a help program started is easy to put off until the first larger winter bill arrives. Utility reps answer what they are asked, so the wording of the request matters.
101 Phone Scripts to Lower Your Bills has word-for-word calls for electric, gas and water companies, including payment plans, budget billing and help programs, alongside scripts for car and home insurance discounts at every renewal and for medical bills. It runs 23 pages, with a call log for the name of the person reached and the reference number.
Read the budget-billing and payment-plan scripts before calling the gas company →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
David M. Keller is a finance writer based in Columbus, Ohio, covering personal finance and consumer-focused economic topics. He earned his degree in journalism from Ohio University and began his career reporting on local business and economic trends for a regional media outlet. Since then, he has contributed to a variety of online publications, focusing on clear, practical coverage of topics such as cost of living, debt, and everyday financial decision-making.
