States › Iowa › Buena Vista County
Electric utilities serving Buena Vista County, Iowa
Utilities that list the county in their Form EIA-861 service territory for 2024, with each one's average price, bill and outage minutes.
Buena Vista County, Iowa, appears in the Form EIA-861 service territory of 6 utilities for 2024; MidAmerican Energy Co, Interstate Power and Light Co and Iowa Lakes Electric Coop are the largest by residential customers statewide.
Their average residential prices ran from 11.01¢ to 17.90¢ per kilowatthour, with a median of 13.78¢, against a Iowa average of 13.40¢ and a US average of 16.48¢. Each price is the utility's figure for all of its Iowa customers, not for this county alone.
The median SAIDI they reported was 116.3 minutes per customer including major event days; the median among all Iowa utilities reporting was 85.7.
The Census Bureau estimates the county's population at 20,449. EIA does not publish customers by county, so which utility serves a given address has to be confirmed with the utility or the state utility commission.
Average price is revenue divided by sales for the sector and year; it is not a tariff rate. Reliability figures are as reported by utilities to EIA on Form 861 and may use different calculation methods. Figures are for each utility's whole Iowa operation; EIA publishes nothing at county level.
Utilities and their 2024 figures
| Utility | Ownership | Residential customers | ¢ per kWh | Monthly bill | SAIDI, all events | SAIDI, no major events |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MidAmerican Energy Co | Investor-owned | 632,436 | 11.01¢ | $87.16 | 219.0 | 88.0 |
| Interstate Power and Light Co | Investor-owned | 417,153 | 17.90¢ | $127.80 | 116.3 | 99.4 |
| Iowa Lakes Electric Coop | Cooperative | 9,714 | 13.78¢ | $199.00 | 44.9 | 44.7 |
| Raccoon Valley Electric Cooperative short form | Cooperative | 2,783 | — | — | — | — |
| City of Alta short form | Municipal | 1,003 | — | — | — | — |
| City of Marathon short form | Municipal | 189 | — | — | — | — |
Ordered by residential customers in Iowa. Short-form filers are small utilities that report only totals to EIA, so no residential price is available; their all-sector revenue per kWh was Raccoon Valley Electric Cooperative 11.86¢, City of Alta 10.43¢, City of Marathon 16.45¢. A utility with no customers shown reported its retail sales elsewhere or delivers power that other companies bill for.
Against the state and the country
| Measure, 2024 | Utilities listing Buena Vista County | Iowa | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average residential price per kWh | 13.78¢ median | 13.40¢ | 16.48¢ |
| Average monthly residential bill | $127.80 median | $111.54 | $142.26 |
| SAIDI, all events (minutes) | 116.3 median | 85.7 median | 184.5 median |
| SAIDI, without major event days | 88.0 median | 70.5 median | 99.8 median |
| Utilities counted | 6 | 24 | 1,413 |
Outage minutes reported
SAIDI for 2024 across each utility's whole system, including major event days (paler bars: only the figure without major event days was reported). Not a measure of outages in Buena Vista County itself.
Population: 20,449 (U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 estimate). Statewide, residential sales came to 4,468 kWh per resident in 2024.
Other Iowa counties
- Audubon County 9
- Benton County 6
- Black Hawk County 6
- Boone County 4
- Bremer County 9
- Buchanan County 6
- Butler County 7
- Calhoun County 5
- Carroll County 8
- Cass County 10
- Cedar County 7
- Cerro Gordo County 6
All 99 counties and every Iowa utility
Questions and answers
Who provides electricity in Buena Vista County?
MidAmerican Energy Co, Interstate Power and Light Co, Iowa Lakes Electric Coop, Raccoon Valley Electric Cooperative, City of Alta and City of Marathon list the county in their Form EIA-861 service territory for 2024. Territories overlap, and a utility may cover only a corner of the county.
What is the electricity price in Buena Vista County?
EIA has no county-level prices. The utilities serving the county reported average residential prices of 11.01¢ to 17.90¢ per kilowatthour across their Iowa customers in 2024; the state average was 13.40¢.
How reliable is power in Buena Vista County?
Reliability is reported per utility, not per county. The utilities listed reported a median of 116.3 minutes of interruption per customer in 2024 including major event days and 88.0 minutes excluding them.
Provenance
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 for 2024, final release: service territory file (counties by utility), sales to ultimate customers, reliability and short form files. State and US averages: Form EIA-861M workbook. Population: U.S. Census Bureau. Public domain. To confirm the utility at an address, ask the utility or the state utility commission.