How much higher is your utility bill because of profits?

By Amie Rivers

April 2, 2026

How much higher is your bill due to utility profits? That and more Iowa Worker’s Almanac news and layoffs for Apr. 2, 2026:

How much of your electric bill goes toward shareholder profits? Find out with this utility bill calculator here.
Trump promised Iowa farmers “great news” recently, but the president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association said that didn’t happen. And companies that need cheap immigrant labor aren’t finding it these days.
TSA agents get a paycheck: Though there’s still a government shutdown over ICE funding, Trump ordered DHS to pay TSA agents last week, and many got a month’s worth of backpay Monday.
Iowa’s tax cut for the rich has predictably led to a tax increase on the rest of us, Ed Tibbetts writes.
Tipped workers still make $2.13 per hour, and have for the past 35 years.
Private equity, crypto, and other super risky investments now have access to our 401(k) accounts.
DOGE targeted Black women: Black women are 12% of the federal workforce but were 33% of DOGE layoffs.
The kids aren’t all right, and they’re pissed about working harder for college degrees and having nothing to show for it. (And adults are losing good jobs and having to take low-wage gig work.)
Starbucks agreed to start bargaining again with the union after baristas went on strike for months—including at unionized stores in Des Moines and Iowa City. “There’s power in collective action,” Starbucks Workers United said. “Let’s finish this contract, Starbucks!

Upcoming layoffs:

All information taken from Iowa Workforce Development’s WARN Act website. Read WARN Act and Iowa WARN Act criteria here.

CNH Industrial in Burlington is closing and laying off:

47 workers by today,
16 workers by Apr. 8,
six workers by Apr. 9,
21 workers by Apr. 10,
14 workers by Apr. 13,
four workers by Apr. 17,
four by Apr. 24,
18 workers by Apr. 30,
27 workers by May 1,
one worker by May 22,
seven workers by May 29,
15 workers by June 26,
13 workers by Sept. 25, and
five workers by Dec. 31. Read more here.

Wells Fargo in West Des Moines is laying off:

49 workers by Saturday,
two workers by Apr. 18,
seven workers by May 2, and
62 workers by May 30. Read more here.

Amie Rivers

Amie Rivers is Iowa Starting Line's newsletter editor. She writes the weekly Worker’s Almanac edition of Iowa Starting Line, featuring a roundup of the worker news you need to know. Previously, she was an award-winning journalist at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier; now, she very much enjoys making TikToks and memes and getting pet photos in her inbox.

Have a story tip? Reach Amie at [email protected]. For local reporting in Iowa that connects the dots, from policy to people, sign up for Amie's newsletter.

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CATEGORIES: LABOR

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