Latest news with #BlackHillsEnergy
Axios
12-06-2025
- Automotive
- Axios
The Agenda: Art, streets and fire trucks
Here a few highlights on the docket for tonight's city council meetings. Bentonville will discuss the public art installation "All Bike(r)s Welcome," which was installed with some panels painted differently than in the approved plan. Springdale will vote on: A contract worth more than $1.8 for APAC-Central to perform an overlay street project. An agreement valued at more than $2 million to relocate some Black Hills Energy distribution lines to allow for the Gene George Boulevard expansion project. Rogers will vote on: Donating an obsolete fire engine to the diesel mechanic program with the Rogers Public School District.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
State prepares to get ‘punched in the nose' as utility plans shut-offs to mitigate wildfire risk
An airplane drops fire retardant chemicals near the First Thunder Fire just west of Rapid City on Sept. 3, 2024. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight) Public safety officials are scrambling to make backup plans after Black Hills Energy announced it will develop a public safety power shut-off program this summer. A public safety power shut-off is when a utility company turns off power to a community or area to mitigate wildfire risk. Trent Nincehelser, state radio manager for the South Dakota Bureau of Information and Technology, told members of the state Public Safety Communications Council at its Wednesday meeting in Pierre that state officials are 'still wrapping our heads around' how the plans will impact emergency responders. 'As you can imagine, that creates a whole host of concerns for us in the public safety community,' Nincehelser said. Shut-offs can disrupt communications, water wells and air conditioning as well as access to other needs, such as medical devices, that rely on electricity. The strategy has grown in recent years after a Pacific Gas & Electric equipment failure ignited the 2018 Camp Fire, which killed 84 people, ranks as the deadliest wildfire in California history and resulted in billions of dollars' worth of lawsuit settlements. The year before that, wind blew a tree onto a Black Hills Energy line in Custer State Park and ignited the Legion Lake Fire, which became the third largest wildfire ever measured in the Black Hills. As you can imagine, that creates a whole host of concerns for us in the public safety community. – Trent Nincehelser, SD Bureau of Information and Technology Several factors are considered before shut-offs are implemented, including heat, humidity, wind speeds and the moisture level of vegetation. The shut-off is used as a 'last resort' when other mitigation measures aren't enough, according to Black Hills Energy. Black Hills Energy Vice President Wes Ashton told South Dakota Public Broadcasting that high-risk wildfire areas more likely to be affected by a shut-off are in 'rural, tree-lined areas,' not urban areas. The company said affected customers would be alerted with phone calls, text messages, emails, notifications through traditional media and social media, and on the company website. Public utilities are able to shut off service in case of emergency, according to state law. The Public Utilities Commission does not have authority to require, approve or deny shutoff plans. Community members and local law enforcement have expressed concern about the plan to Black Hills media outlets. South Dakota has a statewide communications network serving first responders. Nincehelser said the state is 'double evaluating' propane fuel capacity at radio tower sites, generator power backups and 'controlling things we can control' for state radio. 'We're probably not going to know exactly what the risk is until they shut the power off one day and we get punched in the nose, and then we'll know exactly what we're dealing with,' Nincehelser said. 'But to the extent that we can plan for this, I can assure you that we have put those wheels in motion already.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX What the state doesn't have control over, he said, is 'upstream challenges' including backup solutions for internet service providers, network providers and other communications companies that public safety relies upon. 'Any time that this public safety power shut-off plan could potentially be implemented, obviously that's a really bad time for public safety communications to go down if you're in the most critical parts of a potential wildfire season or having concerns about wildfires sparking,' Nincehelser said. Some other electric utilities serving South Dakota already have public safety power shut-off plans. NorthWestern Energy explains its shut-off plan and provides a map on its website. Xcel Energy explains its process for implementing a shut-off on its website as well. The Black Hills Electric Cooperative will not implement a public safety power shut-off plan, according to its website; however, Black Hills Energy 'controls the distribution system' that delivers power to a substation in the area, which could affect some cooperative members.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- 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
31-05-2025
- 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.
