Black Hills requests rate review, rider renewal in Kansas

Black Hills (BKH) announced that its Kansas natural gas utility has filed a rate review application with the Kansas Corporation Commission requesting recovery of the necessary capital infrastructure and operational costs required to deliver safe, reliable natural gas service for 120,000 Kansas customers. Since its last general rate filing in 2021, Black Hills Energy will have invested approximately $118M in safety, reliability and system integrity for more than 4,765 miles of natural gas pipeline infrastructure in Kansas. These critical investments were required to meet system growth, ensure the safe and reliable delivery of natural gas to customers’ homes and businesses, and meet compliance requirements of state and federal regulations. The application requests an estimated $17.2M per year in additional revenue and rolling in approximately $4.4M of rider revenue into base rates for a total annual base rate revenue increase of $21.6M. The request is based on a capital structure of 50.44% equity and 49.56% debt and a return on equity of 10.50%. Black Hills Energy is seeking new rates in the second half of 2025.