Alliant Energy: Offers more options for smart phone users

Media Contact: Justin Foss (319) 786-4788

New technology allows for easier, faster customer service

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – May 21, 2012 – This week Alliant Energy started offering its customers a new option to pay their utility bill – through their smart phone. In the last several years, Alliant Energy has increased its options for smart phone users in an effort to match improving technology with better customer service.

Customers now have a simple, streamlined tool to interact with Alliant Energy even when the power is out at home.

When going to alliantenergy.com on a smart phone, it is automatically directed to a mobile-friendly landing page. The newest option available is View and Pay My Bill. Customers must currently be signed up to manage their account online and have their bank information saved in this secure environment. They will be prompted to enter their online account User ID and password in order to view and pay their bill.

From this landing page, customers can also report an outage, check the status of their outage, and check the impact of severe weather across the region.

“These tools allow us to interact better with our customers,” said Tim Heinrich, director of Customer Support Services. “We want to meet the customers where they are, and as more and more customers start to use smart phones, we want to provide them with the technology they need.”

For Alliant Energy customers without a smart phone, a partnership allows U.S. Cellular® customers to dial pound 2-5-5 (#255) from their U.S. Cellular phone to report an outage. This feature connects Alliant Energy customers directly to the automated outage reporting line.

Customers with other phone providers can still report outages or electrical emergencies easily.

* In Wisconsin call 800-862-6261

When customers report an outage they can request a callback when power is restored. When customers choose this option, the callback will happen when the outage is restored, day or night.