Commentary: Customers get higher bills while Black Hills Energy discovers data center gold

While Rapid City residents debate whether data centers belong in their backyard, a homegrown corporation is quietly anchoring some of the largest tech developments in the country — just across the state line. Back home, its South Dakota electricity customers face substantial rate increases. Meanwhile, Black Hills Corp. expects to earn $150 million annually by 2030 from supplying electricity to Google. That’s more than half the $291.6 million that Black Hills Corp. earned for shareholders in 2025. On Nov. 5, Google announced a $17 billion investment in a data center near Cheyenne, Wyoming. Rapid City-based Black Hills Corp., parent company of Black Hills Energy, has agreed to help power it. Black Hills plans to invest $1.8 billion in natural gas generating plants and coordinate electricity from other producers through a privately managed power system.

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