Latest news with #BlackHillsEnergy
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Black Hills Energy developing emergency shutoff program
(SOUTHERN COLORADO) — Black Hills Energy (BHE) is developing a program to allow the utility to shut off power in high-wildfire risk areas during 'extreme conditions.' According to BHE, the utility is preparing to launch the 'Public Safety Power Shutoff' (PSPS) program by mid-summer 2025. BHE said the PSPS program involves 'selectively and proactively' shutting off power to high-risk fire areas during extreme weather conditions until those conditions improve, with the goal of preventing electric facilities from becoming a source of wildfire ignition. 'At Black Hills Energy, the safety of our customers, employees and communities is our highest priority,' said Campbell Hawkins, vice president of Colorado utilities. 'We believe that a Public Safety Power Shutoff program is a necessary and critical tool for wildfire prevention and mitigation, particularly for utilities with high fire risk areas.' BHE said if a power line is proactively de-energized during a shutoff, it will not be turned back on until conditions improve, and until crews have inspected power lines. This process may result in outages lasting a few hours or a few days. 'Peer utilities are currently implementing and executing similar programs,' Hawkins said. 'To determine if a Public Safety Power Shutoff is necessary, Black Hills Energy will leverage industry criteria that include a combination of wind gust speeds and low relative humidity.' According to Hawkins, BHE does not intend to trigger a shutoff based only on a Red Flag Warning being issued by the National Weather Service; however Red Flag Warnings do trigger other operational responses already in place, which are outlined in the company's Wildfire Mitigation Plan. BHE said it would communicate with customers before any shutoff occurs, and said the shutoff would only be used as a last resort. During and after a PSPS event, BHE said public notifications would occur through phone calls, emails, text messages, social media, media outlets and BHE's website. BHE reminds the community to have a backup plan in place for medicine that needs to be refrigerated or medical equipment that is powered by electricity. This could mean finding a place you can go during an outage or having a backup generator. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Potential power outages in the Black Hills and what they could mean to the community
Rapid City, S.D. (KELO) — Black Hills Energy is planning to roll out a Public Safety Power Shutoff program, which could lead to utilities and power outages in the Black Hills. Machinery fire at Sioux Falls Arrowhead Parkway project The goal of Black Hills Energy's Public Safety Power Shutoff program is to avoid causing or spreading a wildfire. 'What we would do is essentially be watching out weather reports, look at our data of our real-time mapping, then we'd make a decision on if there is an extreme situation. We would actually power down portions of our system until the weather conditions warranted a safe return,' Black Hills Energy Vice President of Utilities Wes Ashton said. While it may sound like a simple solution, Pennington County's Emergency Manager questions whether it's necessary. Their director says that in the last decade, just 1.3% of the county's fires were started directly by utilities. 'How many additional problems are we going to create in our communities by shutting off the power? And we have to balance that against the probabilities and the potential consequences of wildland urban interface fires that may be caused by utilities,' Pennington County Emergency Management Director Dustin Willett said. Black Hills Energy says the program is a precaution and doesn't guarantee there will be outages. 'The situation would accrue under our historical model, sometimes never in a year. Some years it could happen one or two times and the most we've ever seen under our historical modeling was an event happening three times a year,' Ashton said. Before any outages, Willett wants more time to educate those potentially affected, including Black Hills businesses. 'You're not able to operate points of sale, no gas being pumped. So your businesses, your restaurants, aren't able to cook or prepare food. Your hotels don't have air conditioning in their rooms or power for their guests. So the economic impact may be devastating for some communities depending on when and where these shutdowns occur,' Willett said. People who receive their services from the Co-Ops in the area will not be affected by these potential outages. Pennington County Emergency Management is currently working on educational pieces to better prepare those who could be affected if power outages happen for long periods of time. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
City of Pueblo talks about results of 2A
(COLORADO SPRINGS) —With ballot Measure 2A resulting in a 'No' vote from the public, the City of Pueblo is pivoting to look into other alternatives for the end of the agreement in 2030. Public Works Director for the City of Pueblo, Andrew Hayes said, 'We really want to make sure that we're fully doing our due diligence to investigate other possible alternatives and market conditions.' The City is already having conversations with other surrounding cities about teaming up for a joint municipality. Pueblo also plans to be more informative to the community about the other avenues they are exploring over the next 5 years. Black Hills Energy Vice President Campbell Hawkins said, 'They [The voters of Pueblo] recognize that it wasn't feasible or affordable for the city to acquire our assets for over a billion dollars, and there really isn't a practical path going forward.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pueblo votes to stay with Black Hills in another landslide. Nearly 78% say 'no' on 2A
For the second time since May 2020, voters emphatically opposed a city of Pueblo attempt to cancel its franchise agreement with Black Hills Energy. The Pueblo County Elections Department counted 16,005 votes against and 4,557 votes for Ballot Initiative 2A by 10 p.m. on May 6, 2025, according to unofficial results. The initiative asked voters if the city should cancel the agreement and acquire the "generation, transmission and distribution assets" of Black Hills, if "determined feasible." While nearly 78% of voters shot down Ballot Initiative 2A in 2025, a similar measure put out to voters in 2020 failed with over 75% of votes against it. Pueblo Mayor Heather Graham speaks in opposition to Black Hills Energy rate increases outside the Pueblo County Courthouse on Thursday, July 11, 2024 Pueblo mayor: Community 'obviously supports' Black Hills "The community obviously supports Black Hills Energy and is okay with the extreme rate increases and high price of their electricity," Pueblo Mayor Heather Graham told the Chieftain on May 7. "When you have millions of dollars to campaign to make sure that stays in place, it's really hard to challenge that situation." A 6.7% electric rate increase on Black Hills' Colorado ratepayers was approved by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and went into effect on March 22. Prior to the increase, a January 2024 survey from the Colorado Association of Municipal Utilities (CAMU) demonstrated that Black Hills customers were already paying higher rates than customers of any other utility in Colorado. Black Hills Energy Service Center located at 105 S. Victoria Ave. Over $1.5 million campaign aides in defeat of Ballot Initiative 2A No on 2A, a campaign against the city's efforts to leave Black Hills, spent over $1.51 million between March 4 and May 2 with over $1,600 remaining on hand, according to the Pueblo City Clerk's office. Contributions received by No on 2A included $1.5 million from Black Hills Colorado Electric, LLC. and $30,000 from Edison Electric Institute, Inc. — an association representing electric utility companies throughout the U.S. Expenditure statements from the city clerk's office show money spent by No on 2A going toward TV media services, online campaigning, mailers, polling, bank fees and other voter outreach services. Campaign materials from No on 2A argued that a city-run or regional electric utility would be more costly to ratepayers than continued operation by Black Hills. The over $30 million spent by the city of Boulder in a decade-long attempt to municipalize its utility, and a Brattle Group Study showing municipalization would cost $1 billion in Pueblo, were often referenced by No on 2A to support its arguments. Black Hills 'delighted' at special election result "We simply asked voters a series of questions and we trusted the answer... Do you want to be Boulder? Do you want to go $1 billion in debt? Do you think the city can handle this? What happens if there's a cyber attack? We just ask questions and let voters kind of come to their own conclusion about those things," No on 2A spokesperson Steve Welchert told the Chieftain. James Williams, a regional manager of public affairs for Black Hills Energy, shared a statement with the Chieftain and other media outlets about an hour and a half after the first batch of Ballot Initiative 2A election results dropped, at which point 13,800 of 17,504 total counted had been cast opposing 2A. "We're delighted that Pueblo voters overwhelmingly said no to an attempted government takeover of our electric system, for the second time in five years," Williams said in the statement. "Voters know the city's own study showed that a billion-dollar takeover in Pueblo simply isn't feasible, and there's no practical path for an estimated $4 billion region-wide takeover effort, which would be highly complex and unlikely to succeed." What's next for the city of Pueblo and Black Hills? Despite the outcome of the $100,000 special election, Graham told the Chieftain that Pueblo City Council will still be voting on whether or not to take the 2025 off-ramp with Black Hills in August. The city's franchise agreement with Black Hills expires in 2030. "Over the next five years, we'll continue to work on a plan to hopefully find another energy provider or create our own so that we can provide our cost-effective rates to the community," Graham said. Pueblo County Senior Public Information Officer Anthony Mestas told the Chieftain that "all ballots received were counted" as of the night of May 6. The only remaining ballots include those requiring signature cures and overseas ballots. The deadline for cures and overseas ballots is May 14 at midnight. "Once those are processed, an update will be released on May 15, 2025, by end of day," Mestas said. Rattlesnakes in Pueblo: Rattlesnakes are emerging in Colorado. Here's how to stay safe Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at JBartolo@ Support local news, subscribe to the Pueblo Chieftain at This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo special election: Bid to leave Black Hills fails in landslide
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What to know about Pueblo's special election after city-owned utility deemed unfeasible
The city of Pueblo purchasing Black Hills Energy's assets and operating a city-owned electric utility may not be feasible, but a special election is still slated for May 6. Language on the special election's Ballot Initiative 2A asks voters if Pueblo should "cancel its franchise agreement" with Black Hills and acquire the investor-owned utility's "generation, transmission and distribution assets ... if determined feasible." Despite two studies — one commissioned by the city and another commissioned by Black Hills — determining municipalization is not feasible, the city still intends to move forward with the special election at a cost of approximately $100,000. Pueblo Director of Public Works Andrew Hayes told the Chieftain that municipalization is not the only way the city could acquire Black Hills' assets and a "yes" vote on 2A would signal to the city that voters are willing to continue exploring alternative ways to leave Black Hills to lower the price ratepayers pay for electricity. "Citizens voting yes doesn't mean that on May 7, the city owns the utility," Hayes said. "There's a long transition process even from that point. There will continue to be more study, there will continue to be more looks into the information to determine what options are feasible, and ultimately to identify the best possible course of action." Black Hills Energy is located at 105 S. Victoria Ave. What options does the city have outside municipalization? In his conversation with the Chieftain, Hayes outlined three alternatives to municipalization; one would involve operating a utility outside of city limits, another would involve the city joining other municipalities within Black Hills' Colorado service area to operate the electric utility, and a third would explore the possibility of another utility company acquiring Black Hills' Pueblo assets. The city has not yet concluded which of the three options would be the most feasible. However, Hayes acknowledged that the city condemning and acquiring Black Hills' assets outside city limits has the potential to impact multiple stakeholders and presents a challenge "on a number of fronts." "The city believes that, under statute, it has the ability to acquire assets outside of city limits for public purposes," he said. "Now, again, there's other limitations there, so we want to make sure we're talking through those options and picking strategic partners that will be in alignment with that vision." Additional options, which Hayes referred to as "smaller steps," include lobbying at the Colorado Legislature to give local jurisdictions more control over utility-related issues. The city could also negotiate, extend, or enter into a new franchise agreement with Black Hills. "There's all kinds of options on the table, but we just need to look at all those things and make sure we're prepared for making the best decision possible," Hayes said. Chavez Huerta: 'Let Us Go': Why Chavez Huerta is demanding to be released from Pueblo D60 Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at JBartolo@ Support local news, subscribe to the Pueblo Chieftain at This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: What Pueblo is voting for in the May 7 special election
