Black Hills

What Black Hills does

Black Hills Corporation is a regulated electric and natural gas utility company headquartered in Rapid City, South Dakota, founded in 1941 and listed on the NYSE under the ticker BKH. The company serves approximately 1.37 million customers across eight states (Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming) through approximately 227,000 electric customer connections and 1.138 million natural gas customer connections, supported by 1.4 GW of generation capacity (gas, coal, and renewables) and over 58,000 miles of distribution and transmission infrastructure. As a Dividend King with 56 consecutive years of annual dividend increases, the company generates 2025 revenue of $2.31 billion primarily through regulated rate recovery mechanisms approved by state public utility commissions across its jurisdictions.

The company's core products are vertically integrated electric utility services and natural gas distribution services, supplemented by transmission infrastructure investments including the recently completed $350 million, 260-mile Ready Wyoming expansion connecting South Dakota and Wyoming systems. A significant emerging strategic focus is hyperscale data center power supply, anchored by Project Jade — a 1.8 GW (scalable to 10 GW) data center power infrastructure project in Cheyenne, Wyoming using Bloom Energy fuel cells and gas turbines. The company has secured a 1.8 GW generation reservation agreement with a prospective hyperscaler customer (backed by $200M+ in refundable contributions) and serves named hyperscale customers including Microsoft (3,200-acre Wyoming data center development) and Meta.

Black Hills' business model relies on regulated rate reviews (active filings in Colorado, South Dakota, and Arkansas seeking $106.7M combined new annual revenue), recurring subscription-like revenue from utility service, transmission services revenue via the Wyoming Transmission Rider, and Large Power Contract Service Tariff revenue from data center customers. In August 2025, Black Hills announced an all-stock merger with NorthWestern Energy Group valued at $15.4 billion to create Bright Horizon Energy Corporation, expected to close in H2 2026 and expand the combined entity to 2.1 million customers with projected 5-7% EPS growth supported by $7.4 billion in capital investments through 2029.

Name

Black Hills

Legal name

Black Hills Service Company, LLC

Website

https://blackhillscorp.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1941

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Black Hills Corporation is a regulated electric and natural gas utility serving 1.37 million customers across eight U.S. states through 1.4 GW of generation capacity and 58,000+ miles of infrastructure, with an emerging hyperscale data center power business and a pending $15.4 billion merger with NorthWestern Energy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Electric and Gas Utility Services

NAICS

Natural Gas Distribution (2212), Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution (2211), Electric Power Generation (22111)

SIC

Natural Gas Transmisison & Distribution (4923), Electric Services (4911)

akta.pro primary industry

Natural Gas Retail Supply (Residential & SMB) (EUAGAGAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Regulated Natural Gas Utility (LDC) Customer Acquisition & Switching (EUAAADAA), Residential Natural Gas Sales & Customer Growth (EUAAADAD)

Keywords

• Regulated electric utility
• Natural gas distribution
• Electric transmission services
• Utility infrastructure operations
• Data center power supply

Headquarters

HQ city

Rapid City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Electric Utility Operations: Regulated electric utility revenue from approximately 227,000 electric customers across eight states. Revenue is recovered through rate cases and regulatory mechanisms including base rates, riders, and transmission charges.
2. Natural Gas Utility Operations: Regulated natural gas distribution revenue from approximately 1,138,000 gas customers across eight states. Revenue recovered through rate applications with state public utility commissions.
3. Transmission Services: Revenue from transmission infrastructure including the Wyoming Transmission Rider mechanism, which recovers approximately $300 million of the $350 million Ready Wyoming investment.
4. Large Power Contract Services: Revenue from data center power agreements under Large Power Contract Service Tariff, including generation reservation agreements with hyperscale customers seeking 1.8+ gigawatt loads.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Black Hills Corporation is a regulated electric and natural gas utility that generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity and natural gas to approximately 1.37 million customers across eight states (Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming). The company operates approximately 1.4 gigawatts of generation capacity and more than 58,000 combined miles of electric and gas infrastructure, and is pursuing a transformative merger with NorthWestern Energy Group to form Bright Horizon Energy Corporation.

Product overview

Black Hills Corp. is a regulated electric and natural gas utility company operating as a single unified offering. The company provides regulated electricity services to approximately 227,000 customers and natural gas services to approximately 1.138 million customers across eight states. The portfolio consists of Electric Utility Services and Natural Gas Utility Services as the core regulated products, supplemented by transmission infrastructure projects like the Ready Wyoming expansion. The company is also pursuing a merger with NorthWestern Energy to form Bright Horizon Energy Corporation, which would expand the combined entity to serve 2.1 million customers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Regulated Electric Utility Services
• Regulated Natural Gas Utility Services
• Large Power Contract Services
• Wholesale Transmission Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 43% reduction in electric utility emissions intensity since 2005, with 25% reduction in natural gas utility emissions since 2022 toward net-zero by 2035 target
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• NorthWestern Energy GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 August 2025All-stock merger announced August 19, 2025 to create Bright Horizon Energy Corporation valued at $15.4 billion. NorthWestern shareholders receive 0.98 Black Hills shares per share (owning approximately 44% of combined entity). Expected to close H2 2026 pending regulatory approvals from MPSC, NPSC, SDPUC, and FERC. Combined company will serve 2.1 million customers across eight states with projected 5-7% EPS growth.
• Tallgrass EnergycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTallgrass Energy subsidiary Black Hills Energy is managing the 2.7-gigawatt Project Jade data center facility in Cheyenne, Wyoming after Crusoe Energy exited as development partner. Tallgrass took over direct management with the unnamed data center client. Dirt work underway with power generation expected to begin in 2027 at the $7 billion facility.
• Bloom EnergymajorTechnology or IntegrationBloom Energy selected to supply 900 megawatts of fuel-cell systems for first phase of Cheyenne, Wyoming data center project, alongside gas turbines. The project is designed to scale to 10 GW. RBC Capital reiterated Outperform rating on Bloom citing Black Hills' decision to move forward with the project.
• Quantica InfrastructuremajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNorthWestern Energy has signed agreements with at least three data center developers including Quantica Infrastructure as part of the planned large-load tariff for Montana data centers scaling to approximately 2,250 MW by 2030.
• NextEra EnergyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNextEra Energy Inc. signed interconnect agreement with Black Hills Power Inc. for its 160-megawatt Sailors Solar Project in Laramie, Wyoming. Project is six years in development on 1,300 acres of city-owned Monolith Ranch land with expected tax revenue of $37.1 million and 275 construction jobs.
• Hyperscaler Customer (Unnamed)coreTechnology or IntegrationProspective large-load customer for 1.8 GW data center project has provided over $200 million in refundable contributions toward milestone payments for generation equipment. Customer is working directly with Black Hills following Crusoe's exit, with service expected to begin in early 2028.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Avista Corporation: Washington and Idaho-based regulated electric and natural gas utility with similar multi-state regulated structure and Pacific Northwest/Mountain West exposure.
• MDU Resources Group: Vertically integrated regulated electric and natural gas utility with construction services, serving customers across the northern Plains and Northwest. Comparable mid-cap, multi-state regulated utility with similar customer base profile.
• IDACORP: Idaho-based electric utility holding company with regulated generation, transmission, and distribution. Comparable mid-cap Western utility with similar data center load growth exposure and regulatory recovery mechanisms.
• MGE Energy: Wisconsin-based regulated electric and gas utility serving Madison and surrounding areas. Comparable mid-cap, multi-service utility with similar capex-driven rate base growth and clean energy transition.
• Spire Inc: Natural gas distribution utility serving approximately 1.7 million customers across Alabama, Mississippi, and Missouri. Closely comparable to BKH's gas utility segment with similar regulated LDC business model and state-level rate recovery.
• ALLETE: Minnesota-based regulated electric utility with significant transmission and renewable energy operations. Comparable mid-cap utility with similar regulatory framework and Minnesota Power's data center customer growth.
• Northwest Natural Gas Company: Pacific Northwest natural gas utility serving Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Comparable regulated gas distribution model, similar capex-driven earnings growth, and long dividend history.
• NorthWestern Energy Group: Pending all-stock merger partner; mid-cap regulated electric and natural gas utility serving Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, and adjacent states with similar rural Mountain West exposure and data center pipeline (Quantica Infrastructure agreements).
• Southwest Gas Holdings: Natural gas distribution utility serving Arizona, Nevada, and California with approximately 2 million customers. Comparable gas LDC business model and growth profile through pipeline modernization capex.
• ONE Gas Inc: Pure-play natural gas distribution utility serving Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas with approximately 2.3 million customers. Comparable to BKH's gas distribution scale and regulatory model across overlapping Plains states.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/blackhillscorp
• Facebookfacebook.com/107766585913183
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/black-hills-corporation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A3 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Black Hills