Black Hills Corp. (NYSE:BKH) today announced that its South Dakota electric utility subsidiary serving South Dakota and eastern Wyoming has received approval from the Wyoming Public Service Commission for a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) that supports the need for its Lange II Project, a 99 MW dispatchable generation resource in Rapid City, South Dakota. The approval allows commencement of construction of the project, which addresses a capacity deficit resulting from the retirement of other aging generation units, as well as an increase in planning reserve margin to ensure the utility has a reliable energy supply.
Lange II will include six reciprocating internal combustion engines (RICE) with dual-fuel optionality of natural gas and diesel, and related interconnection facilities. These were identified as the least-cost resource to continue to reliably serve customers in South Dakota and eastern Wyoming. The project is estimated to cost $280 million.
Construction is planned to commence during the third quarter of 2025 and the project is expected to start serving customers in the second half of 2026.