Alliant Energy NASDAQ: LNT opened 2026 with what management described as a strong first quarter, delivering ongoing earnings that represented about 25% of the midpoint of its full-year guidance despite mild weather across its service territory. The company also highlighted growing momentum in large-load opportunities—particularly data centers—while reaffirming full-year earnings guidance and outlining financing and regulatory updates.
First-quarter earnings and weather impacts
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Robert Durian said the company posted first-quarter 2026 GAAP earnings per share of $0.87 and ongoing earnings per share of $0.82. Durian attributed the year-over-year change in ongoing earnings “primarily [to] higher revenue requirements and AFUDC from capital investments at our Iowa and Wisconsin utilities.”
Those benefits were offset by cost pressures, including “higher operations and maintenance expenses related to new energy resources and planned maintenance at existing generating facilities,” as well as higher depreciation and financing costs, Durian said.
Weather was a headwind. Durian noted that first-quarter temperatures reduced electric and gas margins by approximately $0.04 per share, compared with a $0.03 reduction in the prior-year quarter. Excluding temperature impacts, he said electric sales were “essentially even year-over-year.”
Durian also pointed to an item excluded from ongoing earnings: a $0.05 benefit from the remeasurement of deferred tax assets due to updated state income tax apportionment assumptions, driven by higher projected commercial and industrial revenues “including data centers.”
Data center agreements and large-load pipeline
President and Chief Executive Officer Lisa Barton centered much of her commentary on large-load growth. She said the company executed a new 370 megawatt electric service agreement in Iowa with a hyperscale customer in April, with “a full load ramp expected by the end of 2030.” To support the incremental load, Barton said Alliant entered into an agreement with “a high-quality counterparty to construct a simple cycle natural gas facility.”
Barton said Alliant now has five fully executed data center agreements representing approximately 3.4 gigawatts of contracted demand, with three projects under active construction. She added that the company has secured generation resources needed to reliably serve the load, which she said is “more than a 60% increase in our current peak demand.”
Management also reiterated the company’s previously announced 2 to 4 gigawatts of future large-load opportunities. In response to analyst questions, Barton said these opportunities reflect a high bar, including “active negotiations,” transmission studies “either completed or ongoing,” and land control. She described the pipeline as consisting of “a combination of hyperscalers, as well as developers,” and said it includes both new entities and customers that may expand.
Barton and Durian indicated more detail is expected later this year. Barton told Wells Fargo’s Shahriar Pourreza that the company plans to provide a “full update” to its resource plan during the third quarter and at the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) conference, including “an update on our EPS, and growth trajectory.” She also said Alliant will announce new electric service agreements on a quarterly basis as they are executed.
Resource planning: emphasis on batteries and peakers
On generation strategy, Barton emphasized flexibility and speed to market. She said that because Alliant’s more recent electric service agreements are capacity-only, the investments required are “primarily energy storage and natural gas combustion turbines.”
In the Q&A, Barton said the expected resource mix is “primarily batteries and peakers,” noting that simple-cycle units can provide flexibility and potentially be upgraded later. She explained that as demand evolves, the company could add “the steam turbine to have the simple cycles converted into combined cycles.”
When UBS’s William Appicelli asked about a turbine size, Barton referenced an agreement “for up to the 1.1 gigawatts” to provide flexibility, while noting that additional details will come with the company’s resource plan update. Scotiabank’s Andrew Weisel asked about timing, and Barton responded that the new combustion turbine would be in service in 2031.
Barton also said Alliant’s third-quarter update will include a refreshed Iowa resource plan reflecting incremental load beyond the 3 gigawatts already in its plan, along with the impact of updated MISO accreditation assumptions.
Financing and equity plans
Durian said Alliant reaffirmed its 2026 earnings guidance and maintained its longer-term earnings outlook. Based on its current plan, Durian said the company expects a compound annual earnings growth rate of 7%+ across 2027 through 2029, while continuing to assess longer-term growth as data center expansion progresses and capital expenditure plans are updated later in the year.
On financing, Durian said the company had $1.1 billion of parent-level and Alliant Energy Finance maturities during the first quarter, which it retired using available cash and new debt, including a $400 million term loan. Remaining 2026 debt financing plans include up to $800 million of long-term issuances, including up to $300 million at WPL and up to $500 million at IPL.
Durian highlighted two developments at IPL aimed at lowering funding costs: increasing the capacity of its sales and receivable program from $110 million to $180 million, and an S&P credit rating upgrade from BBB+ to A-.
Regarding equity needs, Durian said that of approximately $2.4 billion of expected common equity needs over the next four years, Alliant has already raised about $1.3 billion through forward equity agreements, covering planned equity needs through 2027. That leaves roughly $1 billion to be raised through 2029 (excluding equity raised through the shareowner direct plan). The company filed a new $1 billion at-the-market program during the first quarter to support issuance of the remaining equity.
Regulatory update and customer cost responsibility
Durian said Alliant’s 2026 regulatory agenda remains aligned with its capital investment plans and individual rate applications for new large-load customers, and that the company has no active rate reviews planned in 2026, which he said reduces regulatory uncertainty.
He cited two “constructive” decisions related to wind projects:
- Iowa: The Iowa Utilities Commission approved a settlement for advanced rate making principles for up to 1 gigawatt of new wind generation at a current blended ROE of 9.8%, updated annually through IPL’s base rate stabilization period.
- Wisconsin: The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin approved the 153-megawatt Bent Tree North Wind Project.
Durian said the company expects wind investments to help customers avoid fuel costs and generate tax credits while supporting “cost-effective, responsible energy resources.”
Looking ahead, Durian said Alliant has one active Iowa docket for a 720 MW natural gas combustion turbine project filed earlier in the week, as well as five active Wisconsin dockets, including an individual customer rate filing for the Meta data center in Beaver Dam and filings related to LNG storage, additional wind, and increased capacity at Riverside. He said decisions are expected over the next 12 months, and additional filings are anticipated during the year, including individual customer rate applications in Iowa related to a second QTS data center and the recent 370 MW agreement.
Barton also reiterated the company’s position on cost responsibility for large customers. “Customers driving large incremental demand are responsible for funding the infrastructure required to serve them,” she said, pointing to individual customer rates and other mechanisms intended to protect affordability for other customers. She added that in Iowa, the company’s regulatory framework enables it “to keep base electric rates stable through at least the end of the decade.”
About Alliant Energy NASDAQ: LNT
Alliant Energy Corporation NASDAQ: LNT is a publicly traded energy holding company headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, that provides regulated electric and natural gas utility services in the American Midwest. The company serves customers primarily in Wisconsin and Iowa through its regulated utility subsidiaries and operates as an integrated provider responsible for generation, transmission and distribution of energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers.
Alliant Energy's core activities include operating and maintaining electric generation assets, managing the regional transmission and distribution network, and delivering natural gas service to its franchise territories.
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