BHE plans spark concern for communities, emergency management

A letter dated May 23 from Pennington County Emergency Management director Dustin Willett to the Hill City Common Council and Keystone Town Board is drawing concerns throughout the communities of Keystone and Hill City.

The letter was in response to a proposed Black Hills Energy Public Safety Power Shutoff  (PSPS) program. Officials in both towns say they were not informed about the plan by Black Hills Energy (BHE), yet the proposed plan could shut off power to residents and tourists of the towns for multiple days.

Willett summarized the plan as the de-energizing of power lines during times of low humidity and high winds. The shut offs would occur in areas and at times BHE “deem to be at a high risk for wildfire ignitions and subsequent large fire growth,” the letter states. 

Willett said, “These power shutoffs are anticipated to last for multiple days at a time due, in part, to any de-energized powerlines needing to be inspected before restoring power. BHE has said it will attempt to provide up to 72 hours of warning before a shutoff.” 

Willett said his team learned about the plan since March but that the creation of the plan has not been collaborative. He was waiting for BHE to bring the plan forward to the public, and when it did not, he did, sending a letter not only to municipalities but to travel and tourism entities and Pennington County legislators. His goal was to start conversations and raise awareness about the plan.

Jennifer Altieri with BHE said a PSPS program is “a necessary and critical tool for wildfire prevention and mitigation, particularly for utilities with high fire risk areas. The goal of a PSPS program is to prevent electric facilities from becoming a source of wildfire ignition.”

Alteiri said the program is not “unique to the Black Hills.” In fact these types of programs are used in western states by multiple utility companies.

Altieri went on to say the company has met with “area fire departments and neighboring emergency response agencies throughout the BHE service territory over the last several months.” But what area fire departments BHE spoke to prior to formulating this PSPS is unclear.

Lynn Kendall from BHE said the company has “not had the chance to schedule meetings with Battle Creek or Hill City Volunteer Fire Departments yet.” Neither department returned calls about the matter and South Dakota Wildland Fire declined comment on the issue.

Neither the Town of Keystone nor City Hill City knew about the plan prior to receiving Willett’s letter. 

Hill City city administrator Nate Anderson said the  Hill City Common Council will discuss the issue at future meetings.

“The city’s position is in perfect alignment with the letter issued by Pennington County DES (Department of Emergency Services). Hill City believes BHE’s proposed plan to cut all electricity for multiple days creates a greater risk to human safety than the relatively understood risks associated with wildfire in the Black Hills. This decision leaves our community members susceptible to increased medical emergencies, loss of food and refrigeration and the loss of ability to cook, heat water, etc.  Additionally, this decision would also result in tremendous economic damage to Hill City, our merchants, and the region,” said Anderson. 

Hill City has installed a pair of emergency generators for its water system. It also has a generator trailer that can power one of the city wells. 

“The combination of generators can maintain the public water system indefinitely but are limited by fuel supply,” Anderson said. “Additional permanent back-up generators at the primary well locations are proposed for future budget years.”

The wastewater treatment plant of the city is also prepared for an emergency, with “routine storage for 10 days of summer flows (300,000 gallons per day average) and well over a month of routine winter flows (60,000 gallons per day average).” There is  also additional emergency  lagoon storage. 

Anderson highlighted the importance of the current upgrades the city is making to its wastewater plant.

“Automatic pressure-reducing valves are planned for installation in late 2025 as the first phase of water system modernization.  These pressure-reducing valves will further improve firefighting flows throughout the system without the need for public works to transfer water manually.”

However, he aired concerns about the current water storage capacity, saying, “The recharge rate is limited to a single well.  This protects portions of the city served by municipal water, but not necessarily areas outside of city limits.”

This could cause agencies to use alternate water  sources like Major or Mitchell Lakes to fight any fires. 

Keystone officials said  that in the summer the town could probably go for about three or four days with water, while the sewer plant could operate for three days unless there was more diesel available for the generators. It has already discussed purchasing tanks for additional diesel fuel storage. 

Willett’s letter outlined many concerns about the plan such as line safety, infrastructure issues and  environmental and economic consequences. There were 15 concerns in total including some related to fire risk, public safety or informing the public.   Issues such as “loss of some telecommunications and broadband data services,” the “inability to obtain pumped fuel in the affected area” and “increased risk of wildfire ignition due to increased portable generator use and hot fueling,” were stated. Willett also expressed concerns about where shut off victims might shelter. Neither the Keystone nor Hill City have city-owned property with a backup generator that could be used as a shelter if needed. 

Economically, there is no telling how the BHE shut off plan may affect the two towns. Keystone does not collect property taxes and relies on its sales tax revenue to pay its employees and administer services to businesses and residents. And while Hill City is a year round community, many businesses count on the summer tourist season to generate enough revenue to keep doors open in the winter. 

There is no clear indicator as to what weather might create a shut off. Willett noted that, “BHE has stated it will not be sharing the specific climatic thresholds that they will be basing their decisions on. Generally, they have referenced high winds and low humidity.” 

He added, “BHE has stated that power shutoffs would have occurred multiple times over the last five  years.” 

Willett’s team is already spitballing ideas on how to help communities. The  PSPS will be a discussion item at the June 17 Pennington County Board of Commissioners meeting.

A document on the South Dakota Public Utility Commission (PUC) website dated June 5 and titled Wildfire Risk FAQs says the PUC “does not have authority to require or approve the plan,” nor is the PUC involved in the development or review of these plans. 

The document cites   South Dakota Codified Law  49-34A-2.1 and states that a “public utility may disconnect power in cases of emergency.”

PUC deputy executive director Leah Mohr stated it is the, “PUC staff’s understanding that BHE is currently in the process of gathering information from local emergency response agency officials, city and county officials, and others regarding the development of a PSPS plan. The utility’s officials will be using this feedback to understand the impact of potential shutoffs and how the plan should account for these impacts. BHE has relayed to the commission that there is no final PSPS plan at this time, and the utility’s officials will be sharing the plan with the commission once it is drafted.”

Kendall reiterated that position, saying BHE intends to discuss its wildlife mitigation plan with the South Dakota PUC sometime this month. This plan includes the PSPS.