Wyoming

Cheyenne

Our success is a product of our ability to meet the needs of mission critical loads and our existing relationships with hyper-scale, enterprise and co-location data centers

Ready for mission critical

We've developed a complete energy solution for mission critical facilities

In our existing relationship with a large, hyper-scale mission critical customer, we have developed a complete energy solution for mission critical facilities.

A few key areas we have addressed include:

A proven history of executing on major facility expansions in support of customer growth, and a willingness to utilize utility capital in support of that growth
Development of natural gas infrastructure in support of on-site back up generation
Creation of a tariff, approved by the Wyoming Public Service Commission in July of 2016, to accommodate continued and future growth for large loads
This tariff was awarded the 2018 Smart Energy Decisions Innovation Award for utilities
As the home of a major enterprise data center, Cheyenne has developed the needed vendor resources to support mission critical operations.
We have identified sites within our service territories as potential locations for data center clients

We believe our success is a product of our ability to meet the needs of mission critical loads. We are appreciative of our existing relationship with a hyper-scale mission critical customer.

Energy choice

Access to renewables and market power

We have developed tariffs that facilitate the securing of market energy for our largest loads, allowing these customers to access that energy. Depending on a customer’s business model and risk appetite, these structures potentially allow for a lower cost of energy and greater access to renewable energy.

Our Renewable Ready program was created specifically to provide large commercial and industrial customers the option of fulfilling up to 100 percent of their electricity needs with low-cost utility-scale renewable energy resources direct from Black Hills Energy. In addition to this program, we are committed to finding renewable energy solutions for our largest customers, whether that would be through expanding our Renewable Ready program, securing renewable energy from third parties or acquiring renewable energy credits on their behalf.

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Infrastructure and capacity

Best in class reliability and robust infrastructure and capacity

A strong energy partner needs to be committed to excellence in reliability. For more than the last 10 years, Black Hills Energy has consistently been in the top quartile for investor-owned utilities in the country. We’ve also been ranked as one of the top 10 utilities for system reliability for longer than the last five years, as measured by The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Competitive rates and innovative tariffs

Black Hills Energy has been successful in working with our regulators to create tariffs that provide for access to lower cost market energy for large load customers with a business model that includes on-site generation or that can accept some degree of interruption.

Large Power Contract Service

A tariff specifically for new loads of 13,000 kW or greater. This service is for large power users who agree to allow Black Hills Energy-dispatched, customer-owned generation, onsite for the purpose of providing backup service for the customer’s load and maintaining reliability. This tariff provides the foundation for a negotiated service agreement for rates and terms and conditions of service. If the parties agree through negotiations to electric service through this tariff, a Large Power Service Agreement will be executed.

Blockchain Interruptible Service

A tariff specifically for new loads of 10,000 kW or greater with a minimum term of two years and a willingness to accept a degree of interruption. This tariff provides the foundation for a negotiated service agreement for rates and terms and conditions of service, including a negotiated number of annual hours of service interruption. Under this tariff, a customer’s rate will be developed based on a fixed cost per kWh and will not include any additional demand charges. A customer could anticipate a two-year fixed price per kWh, based upon forward market prices, interruption levels, and credit risk. This negotiated price would remain fixed for a period of two to three years.

Reliable Service

Electric service you can count on to power your data center.

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Reliable Service

A truly reliable energy partner

Location and climate

Cheyenne’s elevation and climate are ideal for data storage and processing loads. The elevation is 6,100 feet and the climate is semi-arid. The average annual temperature is 46.5 degrees and annual precipitation is approximately 16 inches. According to the National Weather Service, Cheyenne averages approximately 10 days per year when the temperature exceeds 90 degrees.

Modern telecommunication infrastructure

Cheyenne sits astride an unparalleled convergence of regional and transcontinental fiber optic cables. Much of metro Denver’s digital traffic enters national backbones at Cheyenne and multiple national carriers have a point of presence in Cheyenne.

There are currently six long haul fiber providers within the Cheyenne footprint.

Supportive tax climate

Competitive tax policies

The State of Wyoming has been very supportive of data centers, providing a pro-business tax climate: no personal state income taxes, no corporate state income taxes, no inventory taxes and low property taxes.

They have also provided for a number of statutorily-authorized incentives designed to support the data storage and processing industries. In 2010, the State first approved legislation for a sales and use tax exemption for the purchase and rental of qualifying computer equipment. This legislation was amended in 2011. The specific provisions of the statute can be found at W.S. 39-15-105(a)(viii) and W.S. 39-16-105(a)(viii).

Renewable Ready

Leveraging Wyoming

For generations the state of Wyoming, with its rich natural resources, has had a strong connection to energy. Around here, we know what it’s like to have families, businesses and communities throughout the nation depend on us for safe, reliable and affordable energy.

When you take abundant natural resources and add a deep bench of energy expertise, you get the kind of solutions that help everyone succeed.

At Black Hills Energy, our modern coal plants, state-of-the-art natural gas-fired generating station and wind energy projects create industry-leading electric service reliability at a price point that is extremely attractive for our largest customers and data centers.

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