Accounting for un-depreciated analog electric meters

​In Docket AC20-149, Interstate Power and Light (IPL) requested FERC’s permission to record the net book value of retiring electric analog meters in Account 182.2, Unrecovered Plant and Regulatory Study Costs, and to amortize the balance in Account 182.2 to Account 407 through February 2028, consistent with an Iowa retail rate case decision which called for a return of but not a return on the undepreciated analog meter investment of $39 M.  IPL wants alignment between retail and FERC rates.  Between 2017 and 2019, IPL deployed Advanced Metering Infrastructure (“AMI”) to its retail service territory. To generate the greatest long-term benefits of the AMI system, the existing analog metering system needed to be replaced in a relatively short period of time, leaving some remaining undepreciated investment.   FERC’s Acting Chief Accountant and Director approved IPL’s request.