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Press Releases

Black Hills Corporation Responds to
Recent NorthWestern Corporation Announcement

For Information Contact: Mark T. Thies, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Dale T. Jahr, Director, Investor Relations

RAPID CITY, SD-April 26, 2006-Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) today acknowledged the announcement made by NorthWestern Corporation d/b/a NorthWestern Energy (Nasdaq:NWEC), culminating its strategic review process, regarding its execution of a definitive agreement with Babcock & Brown Infrastucture.

"Last November, the Company proposed a strategic merger with NorthWestern because we believe that a Black Hills/NorthWestern combination offers incomparable benefits to customers, communities, employees, regulators and shareholders," said David R. Emery, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Black Hills Corporation. "We participated in the strategic review process as structured by NorthWestern. Black Hills applied careful consideration and maintained financial discipline in the pursuit of our proposal, but we were not successful.

"While the combination with NorthWestern provided a unique opportunity, it was just one of many opportunities we are pursuing to increase long-term returns to our shareholders," Emery said, "including the ongoing construction of our Wygen II coal-fired power plant, permitting of the Wygen III power plant and development of our oil and gas properties, including our recent acquisitions in the Piceance Basin in Colorado."

ABOUT BLACK HILLS CORPORATION
Black Hills Corporation is a diversified energy company. Black Hills Energy, the wholesale energy business unit, generates electricity, produces natural gas, oil and coal, and markets energy.
Our retail businesses are Black Hills Power, an electric utility serving western South Dakota, northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana; and Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power, an electric and gas distribution utility serving the Cheyenne, Wyoming vicinity. More information is available at our Internet web site: www.blackhillscorp.com.

CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release includes "forward-looking statements" as defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. We make 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 we expect, believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions which we believe are reasonable based on current expectations and projections about future events and industry conditions and trends affecting our business. However, whether actual results and developments will conform to our expectations and predictions is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that, among other things, could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including the risk factors described in Items 1 and 2 of our 2005 Annual Report on Form 10-K and in Item 2 of Part I of our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC, and the following:

  • The amount and timing of capital deployment in new investment opportunities;
  • Our ability to successfully integrate new acquisitions into our operations;
  • The volumes of our production from oil and gas development properties, which may be dependent upon issuance by federal, state, and tribal governments, or agencies thereof, of drilling, environmental and other permits, and the availability of specialized contractors, work force, and equipment;
  • Numerous uncertainties inherent in estimating quantities of proved oil and gas reserves and actual future production rates and associated costs;
  • The extent of our success in connecting natural gas supplies to gathering, processing and pipeline systems;
  • 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;
  • General economic and political conditions, including tax rates or policies and inflation rates;
  • Changes in or compliance with laws and regulations, particularly those relating to taxation, safety and protection of the environment;
  • Weather and other natural phenomena;
  • 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 and natural disasters or responses to such actions and events;
  • Capital market conditions, which may affect our ability to raise capital on favorable terms;
  • Other factors discussed from time to time in our other 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