Press Releases
Black Hills Corporation
Announces Acquisition of Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power and
Approval of Holding Company Application
For Information Contact:
Mark T. Thies, Executive
Vice President; Dale
T. Jahr, Director, Investor Relations
RAPID CITY, SD—January 21, 2005—Black
Hills Corporation (NYSE: BKH) today announced the completion
of its acquisition and the assumption of operational responsibility
of Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power Company (CLF&P).
Black Hills Corporation purchased all the common stock of
CLF&P, including the assumption of outstanding debt
of approximately $25 million, for approximately $90 million,
plus a working capital adjustment to be finalized in the
second quarter of 2005. CLF&P was purchased from Xcel
Energy Inc. (NYSE:XEL).
Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power serves approximately 38,000
electric and 31,000 natural gas customers in Cheyenne and
other parts of Laramie County Wyoming. Its electric system
peak load is 163 megawatts (MW), and power is supplied to
the utility under an all-requirements contract with Public
Service Company of Colorado, a subsidiary of Xcel Energy.
The all-requirements contract expires in 2007. Annual gas
distribution and transportation is approximately 5,000,000
MMBtu (million British thermal units).
David R. Emery, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Black Hills Corporation, said, “We welcome this opportunity
to serve our new customers in and around Cheyenne and to
deliver reliable, value-priced energy. This acquisition
increases the scope of our Wyoming-based energy endeavors,
which includes power generation, wholesale and retail power
delivery, coal mining and oil and natural gas production.
We are very pleased with this acquisition and believe it
increases our potential to expand our regional presence
in the future.”
REGISTERED HOLDING COMPANY APPLICATION APPROVED
The Company also announced that its application for financing
and investment authority in connection with its registration
as a holding company under the Public Utilities Holding
Company Act of 1935 was recently approved by the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission.
ABOUT BLACK HILLS CORPORATION
Black Hills Corporation is a diverse energy and communications
company. Black Hills Energy, the wholesale energy unit,
generates electricity, produces natural gas, oil and coal,
and markets energy; our retail businesses are Black Hills
Power, our electric utility serving western South Dakota,
northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana; Black Hills
FiberCom, a broadband communications company, which offers
bundled telephone, high speed Internet, and cable entertainment
services; and the newly acquired Cheyenne Light, Fuel &
Power, an electric and gas distribution company serving
Cheyenne, Wyoming and vicinity. More information is available
at our Internet web site: www.blackhillscorp.com.
CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some of the statements in this release include “forward-looking
statements” as defined by the Securities and Exchange
Commission, or SEC. Black Hills Corporation makes these
forward-looking statements in reliance on the safe harbor
protections provided under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other
than statements of historical facts, included in this release
that address activities, events or developments that Black
Hills expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur
in the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements are based on assumptions, which Black Hills believes
are reasonable based on current expectations and projections
about future events and industry conditions and trends affecting
Black Hills’ business. However, whether actual results
and developments will conform to Black Hills’ expectations
and predictions is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those contained in the forward-looking statements, including,
among other things:
-
The amount and timing of capital deployment
in new investment opportunities or for the repurchase
of debt;
-
The timing of production from oil and
gas development facilities, which may be dependent upon
issuance by federal, state, and tribal governments, or
agencies thereof, of building, environmental and other
permits, and the availability of specialized contractors,
work force, equipment, and prices of and demand for our
products;
-
General economic and political conditions,
including tax rates or policies and inflation rates;
-
Our use of derivative financial instruments
to hedge commodity and interest rate risks;
-
The creditworthiness of counterparties
to trading and other transactions, and defaults on amounts
due from counterparties;
-
The amount of collateral required to
be posted from time to time in our transactions;
-
Changes in or compliance with laws and
regulations, particularly those relating to taxation,
safety and protection of the environment;
-
The timing and extent of changes in energy-related
and commodity prices, interest rates, energy and commodity
supply or volume, the cost of transportation of commodities,
and demand for our services, all of which can affect our
earnings, liquidity position and the underlying value
of our assets;
-
Weather and other natural phenomena;
-
The extent of success in connecting natural
gas supplies to gathering and processing systems;
-
Industry and market changes, including
the impact of consolidations and changes in competition;
-
The effect of accounting policies issued
periodically by accounting standard-setting bodies;
-
The cost and effects on our business,
including insurance, resulting from terrorist actions
or responses to such actions;
-
Capital market conditions, including price
risk due to marketable securities held as investments
in benefit plans; and
-
Other factors discussed from time to
time in our filings with the SEC.
New factors that could cause actual results
to differ materially from those described in forward-looking
statements emerge from time to time, and it is not possible
for us to predict all such factors, or the extent to which
any such factor or combination of factors may cause actual
results to differ from those contained in any forward-looking
statement. We assume no obligation to update publicly any
such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of
new information, future events, or otherwise.
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Black Hills Corporation - Investor Relations
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