Originally, located in the heart of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, IEA is a corporation that initially started business operations in 1983 as an unregulated (non-utility) subsidiary of Iowa Electric Light and Power Company (IELP). IELP envisioned Industrial Energy Applications becoming the platform upon which it would build its diversified business operations positioned to capitalize on the anticipated deregulation of the electrical utility industry.

Over the next decade, Industrial Energy Applications developed a burgeoning gas trading business and began assembling a portfolio of generating assets, including standby generators, peaking plants, process steam plants, propane air storage units, and an ownership interest in a biomass power plant.

As deregulation sputtered, IELP’s successor IES Industries, Inc. merged with Interstate Power Company and Wisconsin Power and Light Company to become Alliant Energy Corporation (Alliant) in 1998, and IEA was assigned to Alliant’s diversified business holdings under Alliant Energy Resources, Inc. (later Alliant Energy Resources, LLC(AER)). Within AER, IEA was grouped with an array of other businesses to form the Alliant Energy Integrate Service Company (ISCO) that targeted industrial and commercial customers aiming to provide energy infrastructure, commodity purchases, energy efficiency upgrades, and environmental services under a common umbrella. The gas business was separated from IEA and IEA focused on its core mission to own, operate and maintain energy infrastructure assets. For parts of 2001 and 2002, Industrial Energy Applications was marketed and operated under Alliant Energy Cogenex, after ISCO had acquired two other energy service companies (one near Boston and the other near Philadelphia) in order to increase ISCO’s presence on the east coast market. By 2003, these two companies were sold, and IEA again operated as a solo entity under ISCO.

By 2004, was evident that the day of the full-service energy service company had passed and there was a renewed call from Wall Street for electrical utilities to “sharpen their focus”. As a result, most utility companies sold off or closed down their non-regulated energy services operations. Alliant followed suit selling off most of the parts of ISCO but retaining Industrial Energy Applications since it had many electrical customers in common with IEA. In 2006, Alliant sought to concentrate its future investment within its core utility businesses. Alliant concluded Industrial Energy Applications was no longer a strategic fit and commenced the sales process.

In March 2011, Industrial Energy Applications was purchased through a management lead buy-out (MBO) consisting of both current and former members of the IEA management team. Today, Industrial Energy Applications is jointly owned by Randy J. Portz and Bryan P. McGlothlin, and is located in Hiawatha, Iowa.