Black Hills Energy Issues 2009 Colorado Electric
Non-Intermittent Resource Solicitation

Pre-Bid Meeting to be Held Wednesday, April 1, 2009 in Pueblo, Colorado
to Provide an Overview of the Resource Need and the RFP Process

Black Hills Contact Information:
Jason Ketchum 605-721-2765
Media Relations 866-243-9002

PUEBLO, Colo., March 25, 2009 – Black Hills Corp. (NYSE: BKH) utility subsidiary Black Hills Energy today issued its 2009 Colorado Electric Non-Intermittent Resource Solicitation requesting bids to supply 175 to 200 MW of capacity required to serve its 92,000 customers in 21 southeastern Colorado communities.

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC) February 24, 2009 decision, in response to Black Hills Energy’s Electric Resource Plan filed on August 5, 2008, allows Black Hills Energy to build two LMS 100 natural gas-fired combustion turbines and waives the Colorado PUC’s competitive bidding rules for those two combustion turbines.

The solicitation process will determine how the balance of the customer requirements identified in the Electric Resource Plan will be served when the utility’s existing purchased power agreement with Xcel Energy (Public Service Company of Colorado) expires on December 31, 2011. In addition to Black Hills Energy’s right to construct the two combustion turbines, the Commission also granted Black Hills Corp., through its IPP subsidiary, the opportunity to submit a bid to serve all or a portion of the remaining capacity deficit.

“We’re pleased Colorado Electric received approval to build two combustion turbines and that we are now able to move to the next stage of the resource planning process that will determine how the remaining customer requirements will be served. We will evaluate the business opportunities that the Colorado Public Utilities Commission’s competitive bidding process provides,” said David R. Emery, Chairman, President and CEO of Black Hills Corporation.

The Request for Proposal, Model Purchase Power Agreement, Bid Forms and other materials are available online at the Black Hills Corporation and Black Hills Energy Web sites, or by directly visiting www.blackhillscorp.com/BHErfp.htm. The solicitation seeks proposals from non-intermittent dispatchable resources with the ability to operate at or above a 95 percent capacity factor.

To provide additional information and answer questions on the solicitation, Black Hills Energy will host a pre-bid meeting on Wednesday, April 1, 2009 in Pueblo, Colo. at the Pueblo Convention Center from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. MT. For those unable to attend in-person, a Webcast will be held. More details on the event and registration instructions are available online for all interested bidders by visiting www.blackhillscorp.com/BHErfp.htm. Participants are encouraged to pre-register for this event.

ABOUT BLACK HILLS CORPORATION
Black Hills Corp. — a diversified energy company with a tradition of exemplary service and a vision to be the energy partner of choice — is based in Rapid City, S.D., with corporate offices in Golden, Colo., and Omaha, Neb. The company serves 750,000 utility customers in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. The company’s non-regulated businesses generate wholesale electricity, produce natural gas, oil and coal, and market energy. We partner to produce results that improve life with energy. More information is available at www.blackhillscorp.com.

ABOUT BLACK HILLS ENERGY
Black Hills Energy, a subsidiary of Black Hills Corp., serves approximately 92,000 electric customers in 21 southeastern Colorado communities. More information is available at www.blackhillsenergy.com.

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