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Black Hills Energy wants a new tariff that would charge customers with solar panels the true cost of their energy. The utility says people who generate their own electricity cost the rest of their customers more money.
Some worry the proposal before the Public Utilities Commission will kill incentives to install solar systems.
Mt. Rushmore National Memorial has some obvious offerings, and one that’s hidden in plain sight. It’s called the Thomas Jefferson solar canopy and features 975 panels that generate electricity equivalent to the average annual consumption of 40 American homes.
The solar panels are part of a roof over one of the two parking garages at the memorial. In addition to generating power, the coverings protect cars from hail damage that can come when a storm rolls through.
KNBN NewsCenter1
April 18, 2021
RAPID CITY, S.D. Black Hills Energy will be giving away 1,000 free trees this Earth Day as part of their Energy-Saving Trees Initiative in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation.
BHE has been putting on this program since 2014 and has planted nearly 8,000 energy-saving trees since. A strategically-placed tree can save a homeowner up to 20% on energy costs all year long.
Marc Eyre, Vice President of Operations for Black Hills Energy, said, “You just kinda think about the prevailing winds in the winter time. Evergreen trees, they’re kinda building a wind block, you can cut down on some of the wind there and reduce your heating costs. And then in the summer the thing to think about is if you can have something that’s blocking the hot afternoon sun in the summertime, [which] reduces your cooling costs.”
KNBN NewsCenter1
April 12, 2021
RAPID CITY, S.D. This Earth Day, Black Hills Energy is planning to give away more than 1,000 free trees. Customers can claim a tree through BHE’s partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation’s Energy-Saving Trees Initiative beginning on Thursday, April 22.
Trees clean air and water, improve physical and mental health, and beautify the world. They also help save energy, as a strategically-placed tree can save a homeowner up to 20% on energy costs.
A free tree can be reserved on a first come, first served basis here. The three-to-four foot tall dormant trees will be delivered directly to customers for spring planting from May through early June, and are small enough that they can be planted by one person.
KNBN NewsCenter1
February 24, 2021
Some parts of the country, such as Texas, are still dealing with the freeze fallout.
BHE says it was in the clear as soon as temperatures started to go up.
The company’s Vice President of Operations, Marc Eyre, says there was a dramatic increase in customer demand while we were below zero. He says the BHE operations team was able to adjust for the demand, while technicians bundled-up to monitor and physically-inspect key parts of the energy infrastructure.
“Just in general, we’ve been investing in our system, so we do a number of items each year to make sure that when we have weather events, our system is in the best possible shape it can be. So we do annual patrols where we look at our lines and address the issues we might find there proactively before we would find them in a winter weather event or a blizzard or something like that,” Eyre said.
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