Alliant Energy supplies electricity and natural gas to customers in Iowa and Wisconsin through its two utilities, Interstate Power and Light (IPL) and Wisconsin Power and Light (WPL). In the first nine months of 2026, it generated $909 million of operating cash against $1.806 billion of construction and acquisition spending. Its third-quarter filing shows a company preparing for much larger electricity demand, while higher reported earnings have yet to produce a comparable increase in cash. New borrowing, share issuance and the timing of customer payments therefore matter as much as profit growth to its expansion.
Research cutoff: November 1, 2026, New York time. The latest reviewed company disclosure is the October 30, 2026 filing; October developments below are distinguished from September 30 balances.
Source: Alliant Energy’s third-quarter 2026 Form 10-Q, consolidated financial statements, pp. 4–6, and management discussion, pp. 30–40.
1. Wisconsin’s higher rates and sales helped, but costs absorbed the nine-month revenue increase
The third quarter improved, while operating profit for the first nine months remained slightly below last year. Alliant recorded more revenue from customers, particularly in Wisconsin, but also incurred higher costs to operate and maintain its expanding system.
Operating profit measures the amount left after running the business and recording the use of its equipment, before interest, investment income and income taxes. That distinction matters here: third-quarter operating profit rose 11.5%, much less than the 41.6% increase in net income. Earnings per share (EPS) divide profit among shares; diluted EPS also allows for shares that could be issued under relevant agreements.
| Consolidated results, USD millions except EPS and margins | July–September 2025 | July–September 2026 | January–September 2025 | January–September 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 1,210 | 1,285 | 3,298 | 3,440 |
| Operating profit | 349 | 389 | 828 | 823 |
| Operating margin, calculated | 28.8% | 30.3% | 25.1% | 23.9% |
| Net income attributable to common shareholders | 281 | 398 | 668 | 792 |
| Net margin, calculated | 23.2% | 31.0% | 20.3% | 23.0% |
| Diluted EPS, USD per share | 1.09 | 1.52 | 2.59 | 3.04 |
Source: Form 10-Q, consolidated income statement, p. 4. Margins divide the relevant profit by consolidated revenue.
The electricity business supplied $123 million of the $142 million nine-month revenue increase. Wisconsin’s higher allowed revenue to support its utility investments contributed $88 million. Iowa contributed another $53 million because customers had received bill credits through a tax-benefit mechanism in 2025. The latter change raises the revenue comparison, but does not mean customers used more electricity.
Actual retail electricity use grew more slowly. Alliant sold 19.270 million megawatt-hours to retail customers in the first nine months, up 1.0% from 19.075 million. Wisconsin’s volume rose 2.4%; Iowa’s was essentially unchanged. Management attributes the overall increase mainly to Wisconsin commercial and industrial customers, despite less favorable temperatures over the nine-month period.
The third quarter had a different weather pattern. Retail electricity volume increased 2.5%, and temperatures added an estimated $10 million more to electric operating profit than a year earlier. Across the first nine months, however, temperature differences reduced electric operating profit by $10 million and gas operating profit by $4 million. A stronger summer therefore does not describe the whole year to date.
Source: Form 10-Q, electricity sales and temperature tables, pp. 33–34, and electric revenue changes, p. 35. Megawatt-hours measure electricity delivered, rather than the maximum demand a customer could place on the system.
Other revenue increases carried little extra profit. Gas revenue rose $42 million, while the cost of gas sold rose $43 million. Higher gas costs passed through to customer bills explain most of that movement. Likewise, increased wholesale-market electricity and capacity revenue was largely offset by fuel-related costs. Meanwhile, the expiration of IPL’s Southern Minnesota Energy Cooperative supply agreement in 2025 reduced nine-month wholesale revenue by $36 million.
The larger pressure came from running the system. Other operation and maintenance expense increased $88 million, including $37 million of higher incentive compensation and $23 million of higher generation and energy-delivery expense. Depreciation increased $34 million, mainly because storage and distribution equipment entered service in 2025. Total operating expenses consequently rose $147 million against the $142 million revenue increase. Rate increases are helping Alliant recover investment costs, but they have not yet widened its cumulative operating margin.
Source: Form 10-Q, expense bridge, p. 33; resale sales, pp. 34–35; gas and operating-cost explanations, pp. 36–37.
2. Tax benefits and investment gains explain why net profit grew much faster
Most of the nine-month profit improvement arose below operating profit. Net income rose $124 million to $792 million even though operating profit declined $5 million. Larger tax benefits and investment income outweighed the higher interest bill.
The following reconciliation keeps before-tax changes separate from the final income-tax effect. It explains the full increase without treating every favorable item as recurring cash earnings.
| Change in consolidated net income, January–September 2026 versus 2025 | USD millions |
|---|---|
| Net income in January–September 2025 | 668 |
| Lower operating profit, before tax | -5 |
| Higher interest expense, before tax | -58 |
| Higher income from investments accounted for using Alliant’s share of their earnings, before tax | +69 |
| Higher construction financing allowance, before tax | +34 |
| Improvement in other income and deductions, before tax | +12 |
| Larger income-tax benefit | +72 |
| Net income in January–September 2026 | 792 |
Source: Form 10-Q, consolidated income statement, p. 4, and net income changes, p. 33. The six changes sum to $124 million.
Corporate venture funds supplied $58 million of the $69 million increase in investment income: they produced $48 million of earnings in 2026 after a $10 million loss in 2025. Higher valuations of investments were the main driver. One investee providing onsite power completed an initial public offering in June; Alliant recognized the effect in the third quarter because it reports certain funds with a one-quarter delay. These gains differ from selling electricity or receiving cash distributions. The cash-flow statement removes investment earnings when reconciling profit to operating cash.
The construction financing allowance, often called AFUDC, recognizes a financing return while eligible utility projects are being built. It rose to $99 million from $65 million as construction balances increased for storage, gas generation and wind refurbishment. It supports current accounting income even though the facilities have not necessarily begun collecting operating revenue from customers. Interest expense also rose, to $430 million from $372 million, as earlier and current borrowing increased financing costs.
Source: Form 10-Q, Note 4, p. 15; cash-flow statement, p. 6; and explanations of interest and construction allowances, pp. 33 and 37.
Income taxes provided a $181 million benefit, compared with $109 million a year earlier. Renewable generation and storage credits, the return of earlier deferred tax benefits to customers, and utility tax rules all affect this result. Management says the quarterly income-tax timing differences will reverse by year-end. That statement concerns timing differences; it does not mean all renewable tax credits or the entire tax benefit will reverse.
A separate tax change arose when a planned data-center customer moved its location from WPL’s Wisconsin territory to IPL’s Iowa territory. The revised expected geographic mix of taxable income produced a $12 million benefit in early 2026, following an $8 million charge in the third quarter of 2025. Management excludes those two amounts from its “ongoing” earnings measure, an alternative to standard U.S. accounting results.
| Consolidated earnings reconciliation | July–September 2025 | July–September 2026 | January–September 2025 | January–September 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reported net income, USD millions | 281 | 398 | 668 | 792 |
| Adjustment for state tax remeasurement, USD millions | +8 | 0 | +8 | -12 |
| Management’s ongoing net income, USD millions | 289 | 398 | 676 | 780 |
| Reported diluted EPS, USD | 1.09 | 1.52 | 2.59 | 3.04 |
| State tax adjustment per share, USD | +0.03 | 0.00 | +0.03 | -0.05 |
| Management’s ongoing diluted EPS, USD | 1.12 | 1.52 | 2.62 | 2.99 |
Reporting basis: These are income-tax adjustments, so no further tax reduction is applied to them. Management’s alternative, or non-GAAP, results retain venture investment gains, construction allowances and other tax effects. Profit still increases after the adjustment; the cash effect must be assessed separately.
Sources: Form 10-Q, Note 8, pp. 20–21; October 29, 2026 earnings release, income-tax timing discussion and consolidated earnings reconciliations.
3. Customer cash improved in places, but the construction funding gap widened
Cash generation barely changed while construction and acquisition spending rose. Operating cash increased $9 million, or 1.0%, despite the much larger increase in net income.
Higher Wisconsin rates brought in $92 million more cash, and the absence of the prior-year Iowa bill credits added $53 million. Several uses of cash absorbed those gains. The timing of Wisconsin fuel-cost collections reduced cash by $53 million; interest payments increased $40 million; the expired wholesale contract reduced revenue by $36 million; and changes in materials and supplies used another $26 million. These disclosed movements explain why higher bills did not produce an equally large rise in available cash.
Alliant also sells some IPL customer receivables—the right to collect customers’ bills—to a third party. Some later collections on its retained interest are classified as investing cash, rather than operating cash. Including those receipts provides a useful second view of the money available for construction, but it is not reported operating cash flow.
| Cash available and cash spent, consolidated, USD millions | January–September 2025 | January–September 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Reported operating cash flow | 900 | 909 |
| Construction and acquisition spending, shown as a positive use | 1,648 | 1,806 |
| Operating cash less construction and acquisitions, calculated | -748 | -897 |
| Collections on sold receivables reported under investing | 332 | 318 |
| Operating cash plus those collections, calculated | 1,232 | 1,227 |
| Combined cash less construction and acquisitions, calculated | -416 | -579 |
| Cash dividends paid | 391 | 413 |
| Combined cash remaining after construction and dividends, calculated | -807 | -992 |
Calculation notes: The first remainder is the free-cash-flow definition used here: reported operating cash minus cash construction and acquisition expenditures, including utility and non-utility spending. The second view adds only the separately disclosed investing receipts on sold receivables. It excludes other investing and financing movements. Neither measure treats accrued, unpaid capital spending as a current cash payment.
Utility construction spending increased $156 million, mainly as IPL spent more on gas generation and WPL refurbished existing wind farms. Lower spending on IPL storage partly offset those increases. These are disclosed uses of investment, rather than an assumed split between maintaining old assets and expanding the system.
Source: Form 10-Q, consolidated cash-flow statement, p. 6, and cash-flow explanations, pp. 38–39.
The receivables program also helps explain why balance-sheet receivables and cash collections do not move together. IPL had received $60 million of cash advances against its sold receivables at September 30, down from $110 million at year-end. Its retained right to later proceeds was worth $193 million, up from $126 million. IPL used part of its August bond proceeds to reduce funding from this program and commercial paper. Thus, some customer-related funding was replaced with longer-term borrowing.
Group receivables increased from $476 million to $529 million. This balance includes rights to later proceeds from the sold bills, as well as ordinary customer and other receivables. The program had no unused capacity at its then-current $60 million cash limit, although the agreement permits that limit to vary during the year.
Source: Form 10-Q, balance sheet, p. 5; Note 3, p. 14; and Note 6, p. 18; 2025 Form 10-K, Note 5(a), p. 77, for receivables composition.
October brought two identifiable cash receipts after the reporting date: $174 million from transferring renewable tax credits and $61 million of recovered tariffs previously included in storage-project construction costs. The tariff recovery reduced asset costs in September and became cash in October; it was not a $61 million addition to September profit. These receipts ease near-term funding needs, but do not change the nine-month cash-flow comparison.
Source: Form 10-Q, Note 8, p. 20, and Note 12(a), pp. 25–26.
4. Financing is available, but its timing and conditions are becoming more important
Alliant has several funding channels, while its small cash balance makes execution important. Cash fell from $556 million at December 31, 2025 to $26 million at September 30, 2026. The company repaid $1.075 billion of long-term debt during the first nine months and increased short-term borrowing while continuing construction.
| Selected consolidated balances, USD millions | December 31, 2025 | September 30, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and cash equivalents | 556 | 26 |
| Net property, plant and equipment | 20,344 | 21,607 |
| Short-term financing debt | 88 | 1,104 |
| Long-term debt, including current maturities | 12,028 | 11,459 |
| Total financing debt, calculated | 12,116 | 12,563 |
| Common equity | 7,334 | 7,808 |
Reporting basis: Financing debt includes commercial paper—short-term IOUs sold to investors—other short-term borrowing and long-term debt. Supplier bills, customer-related regulatory obligations and leases are separate. Debt represented approximately 62% of debt plus common equity. This describes the funding mix, not the percentage of assets that can be sold to repay creditors.
Source: Form 10-Q, balance sheet, p. 5, and capital structure, p. 38.
The debt bill extends beyond the next quarter. A $400 million variable-rate parent loan matures in March 2027. Finance subsidiary Alliant Energy Finance (AEF) has $375 million of long-term debt due in 2027, and WPL has $300 million. Together those scheduled amounts total $1.075 billion, before commercial-paper refinancing. The parent loan’s rate was 4.5% at September 30. IPL’s new $500 million bond carries a 5.1% coupon and matures in 2031, implying $25.5 million of annual contractual interest before issuance-cost accounting.
At September 30, $596 million remained available under the group’s revolving bank credit line, including $139 million at the parent holding company. The parent’s access matters because utility-level capacity is not the same as cash already held by the parent. Management planned up to $500 million of additional utility long-term debt for the rest of 2026 and up to $2.8 billion across the group in 2027. Those are financing plans, including possible DOE funding, not completed borrowings.
Source: Form 10-Q, Note 6, p. 18, and financing plans and liquidity, pp. 37–38.
The bank credit line expires in December 2030. Its borrowing rules cap debt at 65% of capital under a special calculation that excludes qualifying securities with both debt and equity features. The reported 62% ratio uses different rules, so it cannot measure how much more the company may borrow under that limit.
Source: 2025 Form 10-K, “Short-term Debt,” pp. 43–44. The third-quarter filing reports no material change to the broader liquidity framework except its specified updates.
Share issuance supplies another part of the funding. Outstanding common shares increased by 2.224 million during the first nine months. This included 929,759 shares issued for $59 million under an equity-sale program and 834,811 shares delivered to settle the conversion value above the principal of maturing convertible notes. That second issuance raised no cash; Alliant separately paid the notes’ $575 million principal in cash.
At September 30, outstanding forward share-sale agreements could have delivered approximately $1.736 billion against 25.581 million shares at then-applicable terms. Those shares equaled about 9.9% of shares already outstanding. The money had not yet been received, and the forward prices can change. Management expected up to $650 million of settlements during the rest of 2026 and up to $2.7 billion of common-stock issuance during 2027–2030 through existing programs and future offerings.
A larger share count spreads earnings across more shares. Nine-month diluted average shares rose from 257.5 million to 260.2 million, so EPS grew 17.4% while net income grew 18.6%. Share-based compensation expense also rose from $13 million to $29 million. The capital strategy is to raise equity alongside debt; the small purchases of shares for employee deferred compensation were not a broad repurchase program offsetting that issuance.
Source: Form 10-Q, Note 5, pp. 15–17; Note 6, p. 18; Note 9(b), pp. 21–22; financing plans, p. 37; and deferred-compensation share purchases, p. 41.
October’s Department of Energy agreements materially broaden the funding options. They provide approximately $5.1 billion of potential borrowing for eligible utility infrastructure. The filing states that nothing had been borrowed under them. Their purpose is to support investment with financing that could cost customers less.
The detailed agreements reimburse up to 80% of eligible project costs, subject to approvals and other conditions. Advances bear the applicable Treasury rate plus 0.375 percentage points, with final maturity in May 2056; borrowers can elect earlier interest-rate resets. This offers long financing terms, but does not eliminate the need to spend money before reimbursement or fund the remaining project costs. Certain failures to qualify projects or obtain the specified regulatory cost recovery can require early repayment. The utilities remain responsible for repaying the debt even though DOE guarantees the lender.
Sources: Form 10-Q, DOE financing, p. 40; October 28, 2026 Form 8-K, Item 1.01, “Advances,” “Maturity; Interest Payments,” “DOE Guarantees” and “Mandatory Prepayments”; DOE announcement, October 28.
5. Data-center contracts support the building plan, but actual electricity use must catch up
The expansion has contracted demand behind it, while most of the expected sales increase still lies ahead. Management reported 3.4 gigawatts of contracted data-center demand and expects peak demand to rise approximately 60% by 2031. Contracted peak demand describes the power customers expect to require at a moment in time; it is not electricity already sold or a forecast of revenue growth at the same percentage.
Source: October 29 earnings release, contracted demand and expected peak-demand growth.
There is tangible customer activity behind the plan. Alliant’s May account of the QTS Cedar Rapids project described seven data-center buildings under construction, using information supplied by QTS. That supports the existence of a substantial construction project, while the nine-month retail-volume comparison shows how much smaller the realized sales change remains.
Source: Alliant’s May 7, 2026 account of the QTS construction-site visit, project facts attributed to QTS.
Alliant plans to supply future demand with gas-fired generation, storage, renewables and upgrades to existing facilities. Over the next six years, it plans approximately 2,800 MW of new natural-gas resources, 1,300 MW of storage and 1,300 MW of renewable generation. These serve different jobs: gas plants can produce when called upon, while storage shifts previously generated electricity to times when it is needed.
The investment schedule makes the near-term cash challenge clear. The 2027 forecast is 50.5% above the 2026 forecast, and spending peaks in 2028. Management has not committed contractually to most of the forecast, leaving some ability to change timing as demand and approvals develop.
| Forecast consolidated construction and acquisitions, USD millions | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Renewables and storage | 695 | 1,250 | 1,890 | 1,650 | 335 |
| Thermal generation and liquefied natural gas | 1,250 | 2,090 | 1,855 | 1,655 | 1,205 |
| Electric and gas distribution, calculated sum | 660 | 690 | 680 | 690 | 825 |
| Other | 255 | 275 | 310 | 290 | 245 |
| Total | 2,860 | 4,305 | 4,735 | 4,285 | 2,610 |
Reporting basis: Management forecasts, not amounts already spent. Estimates represent Alliant’s share of construction expenditure and exclude the construction financing allowance and interest added to project costs. The 2027–2030 total is $15.935 billion. The table describes what management intends to build; it does not separate the cost of maintaining existing service from the cost of adding customers.
Source: Form 10-Q, customer investments, pp. 30–31, and construction forecast, p. 39.
Two proposed Iowa gas plants illustrate the scale and the remaining approval steps: an approximately 720 MW Linn County facility and the approximately 1,200 MW Riverhawk Energy Center. Decisions were expected in the first and second quarters of 2027, respectively. Meanwhile, WPL plans to retain its Edgewater Unit 5 and Columbia Units 1 and 2 coal operations at least through 2030. Keeping existing capacity available is part of management’s response to reliability and customer needs while new resources are developed.
Rates determine how investment becomes earnings. WPL expects higher revenue from its expanding utility asset base in 2027. IPL expects storage investment tax credits to help cover the amount needed to earn its permitted return under its rate settlement. Management also announced an extension of IPL’s retail electric base-rate stability plan through 2030. The intended benefit is predictable base rates while investment proceeds; execution requires sufficient sales, qualifying tax benefits and cost control.
Sources: Form 10-Q, construction approvals and coal operations, p. 30, and future earnings considerations, p. 37; October 29 earnings release, IPL base-rate stability plan.
Regional electricity supply is growing too. Grid operator MISO reported 142.6 GW of summer capacity offers in 2026, about 4.8 GW more than a year earlier, with solar additions leading the increase. It nevertheless highlighted evening reliability risks and growing large-customer demand. Alliant therefore needs to consider when and where each new resource can supply electricity.
Other suppliers are also adding dependable power. NextEra’s September announcement described financing for the 615 MW Duane Arnold nuclear restart in Iowa, targeted no later than early 2029 and subject to regulatory approvals. Additional regional supply could improve reliability and affect wholesale purchasing conditions. For Alliant, the cost and delivery date of its own projects remain important as other suppliers also invest to serve growing demand.
Sources: MISO summer-readiness statement, May 6, 2026; NextEra’s Duane Arnold financing announcement, September 8, 2026.
6. Protecting customers from unused construction is central to the strategy
The largest business risk is spending ahead of demand and then failing to recover the cost. Alliant’s contracts, regulatory approvals and project timing determine who pays if a customer delays or cancels a facility.
WPL’s proposed large-customer tariff would require an initial 15-year service term, minimum demand commitments, termination charges, reimbursement obligations and credit support. These provisions are intended to make large customers pay the costs of serving them rather than shifting those costs to existing customers. The application was still awaiting a decision, expected in the first half of 2027.
Exposure already exists outside the plants themselves. IPL and WPL guaranteed approximately $199 million and $125 million, respectively, of transmission construction costs associated with data centers. If construction terminates before the transmission provider places the infrastructure in service, the utility must reimburse costs incurred. No material liability was recognized because payment was not considered probable. The $324 million combined amount is an exposure, not a recorded loss, and the filing does not establish a complete offset from customer recoveries.
Source: Form 10-Q, proposed large-load tariff, p. 31, and Note 12(c), transmission guarantees, pp. 26–27.
Tax-credit eligibility is another operating condition, because tax benefits support both earnings and cash funding. Federal tax credits awaiting future use totaled $793 million at September 30. IPL and WPL had also promised to compensate buyers if credits already sold failed to qualify. These promises covered $701 million of earlier sale proceeds, although management considered material payments remote. Nevertheless, these agreements make the qualification of the underlying projects economically important after credits have been sold.
The existing asset base contains obligations that will continue alongside the expansion. Former manufactured-gas sites had an estimated remaining cleanup cost range of $11 million to $34 million, with $13 million recorded. Separately, a legacy guarantee associated with Whiting Petroleum partnerships had an estimated $92 million of currently known abandonment exposure and no contractual maximum. Management did not expect material payments under that guarantee and had recorded no material liability. The disclosed estimate therefore describes known exposure, not a legal ceiling or a forecast payment.
Source: Form 10-Q, Note 8, p. 20, and Note 12(c)–(d), pp. 26–27. Tax-credit indemnities total $391 million at IPL plus $310 million at WPL.
Regulators also constrain the recovery of ordinary costs. Iowa ordered IPL to maintain current electric rates, reduce annual residential gas base rates by $3 million effective October 6, and undergo a separate review of management efficiency. Environmental rules and related litigation could require further plant spending; the company did not quantify their full financial effect. Those constraints make construction discipline and service quality relevant to future earnings, even when customer demand is growing.
Source: Form 10-Q, Iowa rate proceedings, p. 31, and Note 12(d), p. 27. Part II, Item 1, p. 41 reports no proceedings requiring disclosure under its stated criteria; that does not remove the separately disclosed contingent exposures.
7. The business opportunity is credible; turning it into cash is the next test
Alliant’s outlook depends on bringing customers and new equipment into service together while securing recovery of their costs. Higher Wisconsin rates, rising commercial and industrial use, physical data-center construction and contracted demand give the investment plan a business foundation. The DOE agreements add a potentially useful source of long-term financing.
The current earnings increase is a less direct measure of that progress. Investment valuations, tax benefits and construction allowances lifted profit while cumulative operating profit and cash generation were roughly flat. As construction accelerates, new plants also bring depreciation and financing costs. The company needs customer receipts and approved cost recovery to rise alongside them.
The assessment would improve with timely customer demand, completed projects and stronger cash collections from the larger system. It would weaken if customers defer their facilities after significant infrastructure spending, or if regulators disallow costs and tax credits fail to qualify. Alliant has room to adjust spending that is not yet committed, but the projects already underway make coordinated construction, customer contracts and financing the decisive business task.
Source: Form 10-Q, future operating considerations, p. 37, construction discretion, p. 39, and DOE financing, p. 40. The assessment combines reported results with the management plans discussed above.
Reporting basis and calculation notes
Reporting basis: Alliant Energy Corporation, CIK 0000352541, Form 10-Q, accession 0000352541-26-000047, filed October 30, 2026, for the quarter ended September 30, 2026. The analysis uses the unaudited consolidated group, not the separate IPL or WPL accounts. Quarterly comparisons cover July–September; cumulative comparisons cover January–September. Balance-sheet comparisons use December 31, 2025 and September 30, 2026. Amounts are in U.S. dollars. The research cutoff is November 1, 2026; no claim is made that every intervening announcement was reviewed.
Sources: SEC filing metadata; selected 10-Q; filing-specific XBRL instance. Core statement figures were checked against the filing’s machine-readable data, selecting the whole group, the matching dates and the correct dollar or per-share units. The general SEC company-facts feed retrieved did not yet include this accession and was not used as the source of 2026 third-quarter values.
Calculation notes: The following checks provide the supporting accounting detail without changing the business findings.
- Balance-sheet equality. Assets are what the group owns; liabilities are what it owes; equity is the accounting amount left for shareholders. At September 30, assets of $25,954 million equal liabilities of $18,146 million plus equity of $7,808 million. At December 31, assets of $24,991 million equal liabilities of $17,657 million plus equity of $7,334 million. Liabilities increased $489 million and equity increased $474 million, matching the $963 million asset increase.
- Assets and operating obligations. Net property increased $1,263 million as the group expanded its long-lived equipment and facilities. Total inventories—production fuel, stored gas, and materials and supplies—increased from $288 million to $326 million; materials and supplies accounted for $28 million of the $38 million increase. Investment assets increased from $694 million to $794 million, including a $59 million increase in ATC Holdings. Accounts payable increased from $498 million to $599 million. These supplier obligations are separate from financing debt. The condensed balance sheet presents no separate material line for goodwill or other intangible assets.
- Amounts recovered through customer rates. Regulatory assets increased from $2,274 million to $2,343 million. These generally represent costs or tax-related amounts expected to be recovered through future rates. Regulatory liabilities, amounts to be reflected for customers’ benefit, fell from $1,201 million to $1,043 million. Tax-related liabilities fell $81 million and removal-cost obligations fell $43 million. These balance changes are not interchangeable with the $38 million cash-flow reduction attributed to regulatory liabilities.
- Equity movements. Profit kept in the business after dividends increased retained earnings by $379 million. Paid-in capital, which records share capital beyond the shares’ small stated legal value, rose $92 million. The table below accounts for the total equity increase. “Other comprehensive income” means gains and losses recorded directly in equity rather than in net income.
| Consolidated common equity, January–September 2026 | USD millions |
|---|---|
| Opening common equity | 7,334 |
| Net income retained before dividends | +792 |
| Dividends | -413 |
| Shares issued through the direct shareholder plan | +16 |
| Shares issued through the market offering program | +59 |
| Compensation plans and other movements, after trust-share changes | +16 |
| Other comprehensive income, after tax | +4 |
| Closing common equity | 7,808 |
Calculation notes: Shares held in the employee deferred-compensation trust reduced equity by $15 million at September 30, compared with $14 million at year-end. These shares are held for the plan rather than retired.
Source: Form 10-Q, balance sheet, p. 5; Note 2, pp. 13–14; and Note 5 equity reconciliation, pp. 16–17.
| Reconciliation from net income to operating cash, consolidated, USD millions | January–September 2025 | January–September 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Net income | 668 | 792 |
| Add depreciation and amortization | +631 | +665 |
| Remove deferred tax benefits and tax credits | -125 | -199 |
| Remove accounting earnings from investments outside the consolidated group | -41 | -110 |
| Other profit-to-cash adjustments | +43 | +65 |
| Change in amounts awaiting collection | -391 | -332 |
| Change in obligations reflected in customer rates | +107 | -38 |
| Changes in tax balances due to payment and accounting timing | +101 | +141 |
| Other asset and liability changes | -93 | -75 |
| Reported operating cash | 900 | 909 |
Calculation notes: Depreciation is a charge for using assets, not a current cash payment. Investment income and deferred tax benefits also require adjustments before profit becomes cash flow. The tax adjustment and tax-balance movement above are separate reported lines; neither is counted again as an extra cash benefit. Cash tax receipts net of payments were $95 million in 2026 and $108 million in 2025, including tax-credit transfer proceeds of $102 million and $117 million, respectively.
The full cash reconciliation is opening cash of $556 million + operating inflow of $909 million − investing outflow of $1,538 million + financing inflow of $99 million = closing cash of $26 million. The cash-flow statement’s cash-and-restricted-cash totals equal reported cash and cash equivalents at both 2026 endpoints. Investing outflow equals $1,806 million construction spending less $318 million sold-receivable receipts plus $50 million of other net uses. Financing inflow equals $496 million net long-term debt proceeds + $400 million short-term loan proceeds + $616 million additional commercial paper − $1,075 million debt repayments − $413 million dividends + $75 million other financing.
Source: Form 10-Q, cash-flow statement, p. 6. Capital expenditure incurred but not yet paid was $273 million; it is not added to cash spending.
Calculation notes: The year-end 2025 maturity schedule listed $1,375 million due in 2028, $950 million in 2029 and $400 million in 2030. Those amounts exclude the new 2026 borrowing described above. At year-end 2025, consolidated operating and finance lease liabilities were $21 million and $190 million, respectively; total future payments before adjusting for the time value of money were $27 million and $377 million. These are the latest complete lease schedules reviewed, not September 2026 balances.
Source: 2025 Form 10-K, Note 8, p. 83, and Note 9, pp. 84–85.
Reporting basis: WPL leases Sheboygan Falls from another Alliant company. Its approximately $70 million increase in the lease asset and liability in 2026 disappears when the group accounts are combined, because the group cannot lease from itself. Similarly, the $57 million asset transfer from WPL to IPL moves assets within the group and creates no group investing cash flow.
Source: Form 10-Q, Note 1(b), p. 13, and Note 14, p. 30.
Calculation notes: Percentage growth equals the current-period amount divided by the comparable prior-period amount, minus one. Margins use reported consolidated revenue. A change from a 25.1% to a 23.9% operating margin is a decline of approximately 1.2 percentage points. Forecasts, adjusted earnings and calculations are labelled where used; displayed inputs are rounded as in the source statements.
This article is for general information and business analysis. It is not investment advice.
