Skip to main content


Sharing our energy with the communities we serve through charitable giving, outreach and employee volunteerism.

 

We are privileged to serve  natural gas and electric utility customers in our eight-state footprint. Giving back to those communities is part of our history, our culture, and will hopefully be our legacy. We continuously strive to positively impact the lives of every person, business, and organization in the towns and cities we all call home.

Providing safe and reliable energy every day is what we do, and alongside that commitment, our employees make a meaningful difference in the communities where they live and work. 

We are proud to share this summary of our community impact activities throughout 2022.

economic impact
34,000+ volunteer hours
$1.7 MIL economic development

Black Hills Cares

We all use energy to heat our homes when it’s cold and keep the lights on when it gets dark. Making the tough decision between paying for energy or feeding your family is beyond challenging. As the need increased, so did the giving. Last year, our energy assistance program, Black Hills Cares, helped over 4,600 families through partnerships with two dozen agencies throughout our service territory.

We match our customers’ and employees’ contributions to Black Hills Cares dollar-for-dollar, raising a total of almost $760,000 last year. 


Energy assistance programs

Energy in action

 

 

 

United Way pledges

Last year, we benefited 45 United Ways across our eight states including over $600,000 in employee pledges plus a 25% match from Black Hills Corp. Foundation.

 

 
 
 

 

 

Customers saved energy

We offer our customers a wide variety of programs and rebates to help them learn how to reduce energy waste and lower their energy bills. Our customers understand the importance of these efforts and almost 28,500 customers participated in at least one Black Hills Energy-sponsored energy efficiency program during 2022. Learn more about our energy efficiency programs. Learn more about our energy efficiency programs.

 

"$6.1 million charitable impact"
 
 
 

 

 

Charitable impact

Included contributions and sponsorships to nonprofits, chambers and economic development organizations, United Way, energy assistance, in-kind donations, scholarships, investments in trees and the social impact of employee volunteer hours.

 

Charitable giving 


Contributions and sponsorships

Our charitable impact included contributions and sponsorships for nonprofits, chambers and economic development organizations, United Way, energy assistance, in-kind donations, and investments in trees, as well as the monetary value of our employees’ volunteerism.

Nearly $1.65 million was invested by our state utilities and the Black Hills Corp. Foundation in the great work of hundreds of worthy local organizations and nonprofits.

Charitable impact by state

We are proud to strengthen the communities where we live and serve. In 2022, our charitable giving totaled more than $6 million including gifts from our corporate foundation and state utility budgets as well as employee giving to United Way and support provided through Black Hills Energy’s energy assistance program, Black Hills Cares. Below is a breakout of how our charitable giving impacted each of our states.

Click on your state below to see how we gave back in the community you live in.

  Foundation* State Operating Funds Employee United Way Giving (Paid in 2022) BH Cares Volunteerism Total
Arkansas $83,183 $211,757 $63,791 $67,925 $105,295 $531,951
Colorado $55,196 $531,971 $81,956 $168,969 $41,656 $879,749
Iowa $59,486 $408,418 $17,825 $72,866 $88,783 $647,378
Kansas $30,519 $274,614 $34,980 $157,882 $60,269 $558,264
Nebraska $94,689 $338,120 $91,893 $151,584 $257,332 $933,619
South Dakota $107,584 $1,361,654 $237,924 $73,896 $259,436 $2,040,494
Wyoming $79,902 $187,197 $76,033 $66,621 $91,971 $501,724
Total company-wide impact $510,559 $3,313,731 $604,402 $759,744 $904,743 $6,093,179

*Charitable impact related to the two communities we serve in Montana is factored into our South Dakota and Wyoming totals.

Spreading Positive Energy in our communities

  • A hot, windy day in southwest Nebraska generated $3,768 as Black Hills Energy employees, family and friends putted for a playground. The Central Region's 4th Annual Golf Tournament was hosted in McCook, Nebraska this year on Sept. 30 at Heritage Hills Golf Course.  The tournament, with a field of…
  • On Friday, Sept. 22, the Kearney office went to the dogs…literally! To show support for the local community and hold an event to coincide with the area Junk Jaunt, a garage sale was hosted to benefit the Kearney Area Animal Shelter. Committee members met and chose the animal shelter as the charity…
  • Each year Black Hills Energy is able to support United Way in a Day of Caring event as part of the Season of Giving campaign. Several employees from the Bluffs facility in Iowa joined together to help the New Visions Homeless Services get ready for their December Community Christmas by sorting…
  • South Dakota Mines recently recognized our company as the 2023 Community Champion at their annual state-of-the-university address in Rapid City. Our company was the business recognized this year for having dedicated time, treasure and talent to further the mission of the school. Attendees of the…