The company’s filing proposes an interim rate increase of $24m, or approximately 20%, for South Dakota electric utility customers. A typical Black Hills Power South Dakota residential customer using 600kWh of power each month will see an interim increase of $12.18 per month.
The rate increase will be included in customer bills beginning in April 2010, subject to adjustment once a final order pertaining to the company’s South Dakota rate request is received from the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission.
Chuck Loomis, vice president of operations at Black Hills Power, said: “The implementation of interim rates on April 1, 2010 coincides with the expected commercial operation of the Wygen III generation facility, constructed to serve the growing electricity demand of our Black Hills customers.”
On September 30, 2009, Black Hills Power filed a request for an electric revenue increase with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission to recover costs associated with the Wygen III power plant located near Gillette, Wyoming, and other generation, transmission and distribution assets and operating expenses. In its original application, the company requested a $32m increase in annual utility revenues, to be effective on April 1, 2010.
