Black Hills Corp. utility subsidiary submits 2018 Integrated Resource Plan in Wyoming
Black Hills Corp. announced Monday that its Wyoming electric utility subsidiary, Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power Co., doing business as Black Hills Energy, submitted its 2018 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) to the Wyoming Public Service Commission (WPSC).
“The IRP is a comprehensive roadmap outlining our planning and preparation to meet our electric utility customers’ long-term energy needs over the next 20 to 30 years,” Linn Evans, president and chief operating officer of Black Hills, said. “The IRP incorporates the forecasting of customer demand for energy and economic modeling of a variety of generation resource options to ensure our ability to continue to serve our customers with safe, reliable and cost-effective energy.”
The plan recommends meeting Cheyenne Light’s long-term electric capacity and energy needs with a balanced mix of generation resources, including coal, natural gas and renewable resources, including wind and solar.
It also recommends meeting Cheyenne Light’s near-term electric energy and capacity needs through the purchase of the Wygen I power plant, located near Gillette, Wyoming, as the least cost resource.
The IRP process and evaluation for Cheyenne Light identified a near-term baseload generation capacity shortfall of 60 megawatts due to the 2022 expiration of a power purchase agreement for energy produced at the Wygen I power plant. Black Hills Wyoming, an affiliate company, owns the plant.
“Wygen I is the best long-term choice to cost-effectively meet our customers’ current and future baseload capacity and energy needs,” Evans said. “As part of our fleet of owned generating facilities, Wygen I would continue to provide our customers with safe and reliable energy, ensure the long-term price-stability afforded by a low-cost, local Wyoming energy resource, and continue to provide stable, long-term mining and plant operations jobs within Wyoming.”
Review of Cheyenne Light’s 2018 IRP is subject to an open public process governed by the WPSC. Any future purchase of Wygen I by Cheyenne Light would require the approval of a certificate of public convenience and necessity by the WPSC and approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Black Hills Corp. expects the process to be completed by the end of 2019.
