Understanding your bill | Iowa

Your due date and the amount due are located at the top of the front page, along with your account number and service address.

Easily compare this month’s usage to the same time last year and view reasons why your bill may have changed since last month.

The billing summary breaks down your charges into four categories that are displayed in a simple, easy-to-read chart.

• Delivery: Costs to bring energy to your address. This includes the customer fee, which helps to cover the costs of pipelines, technology and equipment required to deliver that service.
• Energy supply: Pass-through market cost of natural gas.
• Taxes: Local and state taxes and fees.
• Other: Credits, adjustments and other charges included in your bill.

In this section you’ll find useful safety information and specific tips to help you save energy and money. 

If paying your bill by mail, detach the bottom of the front page and include this with your check in an envelope.

The last 12 months of usage history is available to help you see how this varies throughout the year.

Specifics about your monthly charges are shown by category and color-coded to match the monthly bill summary chart on the front page.

Important information about your account is included in the messages section.

Managing your account online provides easy access to resources and tools, including:

• Viewing your usage and bill history.
• Starting, stopping or transferring service.
• Paying your bill or changing your payment method.
• Managing email and text alerts.
• Enrolling in programs such as Auto Pay and paperless billing.

We offer several ways to pay your bill so that you can pick the one that’s right for you.

Customer Charge: a fixed monthly charge, separate from energy usage, that recovers a portion of fixed operating costs, like customer services and customer-related facilities such as meters and service lines.

Base rate: The charge covers the cost of transporting, measuring, and delivering the gas from the pipelines to the customer's premises.

Energy Efficiency Cost Recovery (EECR): Funds collected to cover the costs of utilities’ energy efficiency plans, as required by the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) and state law. Charges are based on natural gas usage.

Purchased Gas Adjustment (PGA): The estimated cost Black Hills Energy pays for natural gas that’s delivered to customers. This recovers the cost of natural gas as purchased by Black Hills Energy. The natural gas market is volatile, and this cost can change from day-to-day. Black Hills Energy does not profit from the cost of gas, costs incurred by Black Hills Energy are passed-thru dollar-for-dollar to customers.

Rate Case Expense (RCE): A 36-month fixed surcharge as part of the 2021 rate review settlement. This surcharge allows for recovery of costs incurred during the rate review process. The monthly impact for a residential customer is $0.10.

Franchise Fee: A franchise fee is essentially a tax that is collected on behalf of a city government. This fee is authorized under and governed by Iowa statute 364.2 (4) (f). This fee will appear on customer bills each month on a line entitled “Franchise fee.” The fee is 1-5 percent (determined by the city) of the customer’s bill before county and state taxes are added.  According to Iowa code, any customer paying a franchise fee in Iowa, no longer pays the local option sales tax. Not all communities have implemented a franchise fee.