Black Hills Corp.’s South Dakota and Wyoming electric utility subsidiaries join Western Energy Imbalance Market
FOLSOM, Calif. – Two electric utility subsidiaries of Black Hills Corporation, a utility based in Rapid City, South Dakota that serves 1.37 million electricity and natural gas and electricity customers in eight Western states, are now participating in the Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM).
Black Hills Power Inc. and Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power Company, which both do business as Black Hills Energy, entered the WEIM market on May 6. With these latest additions, the real-time electricity market now includes 23 balancing authorities outside of the ISO and spans 12 Western states.
The WEIM is a real-time electricity market that enables participating entities to buy and sell power close to the time electricity is generated and consumed. Using state-of-the-art technology, the market finds and delivers the lowest-cost resources to meet immediate power needs and manages congestion on transmission lines to maintain grid reliability.
Since the market’s launch in 2014, it has generated more than $8.6 billion in cumulative financial savings for participating entities and their customers.
“At Black Hills Energy, our decisions are guided by our responsibility to deliver the safe, reliable, and cost-effective energy our customers depend on,” said Marne Jones, senior vice president and chief utility officer. “Our participation in the Western Energy Imbalance Market supports our commitment to deliver value through the critical energy services we provide.”
Elliot Mainzer, the ISO’s president and CEO, said, “It is our pleasure to welcome Black Hills Energy and the state of South Dakota to the Western Energy Imbalance Market to secure the reliability and economic benefits delivered by WEIM. We are thrilled that it continues to grow with such strong partners 12 years after it began operating.”
In addition to bringing more diverse resources into the WEIM, adding Black Hills Energy enhances the geographic diversity of the market footprint by extending it into South Dakota as the market’s 12th Western state. This diversity strengthens the grid’s overall reliability because a geographically broad and electrically-connected market makes it easier to share resources between participants. Visit the Black Hills Energy website for more information.
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About the California ISO
250 Outcropping Way, Folsom, CA 95630 | www.caiso.com
The California Independent System Operator (ISO) is a nonprofit public-benefit corporation dedicated with its partners to continuous improvement and secure operation of a reliable grid operated for the benefit of electricity consumers. The ISO provides comprehensive grid planning, open and nondiscriminatory access to one of the largest networks of high-voltage transmission power lines in the world and operates a competitive electricity market that in 2024 included $16.1 billion in transactions. In helping to carry out California’s energy policy objectives, the ISO is at the forefront of integrating renewable power and advanced technologies that will help provide a reliable and sustainable energy future efficiently and cleanly.
About the Western Energy Markets
The Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) is a real-time wholesale energy trading market that enables participants throughout the West to buy and sell energy when needed. Since its inception in 2014, it has resulted in more than $8.6 billion in financial benefits to market participants and their customers and has enhanced reliability across the region by sharing diverse resources and optimizing inter-connected transmission. The Western Energy Markets Governing Body, designed by regional stakeholders, has primary decision-making authority regarding rules specific to participation in the WEIM and Extended Day-Ahead Market.