Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Black Hills' (BKH) 52.5 MW Wind Energy Project Comes Online

Read MoreHide Full Article

Black Hills Corp. (BKH - Free Report) completed the construction of its 52.5-megawatt (MW) Corriedale Wind Energy Project on the 5,000-acre site in Laramie County near Cheyenne for $79 million. It is jointly owned by the company’s affiliate electric utilities South Dakota Electric and Wyoming Electric.

The project customized wind turbine analytics software combined with project design enhancements, which will likely increase its annual energy production with 21 wind turbines by up to 7% at a rate of 2.5 MW each.

With the endeavor beginning commercial operations, the company now owns and operates projects with a total capacity of worth 281 MW renewable wind generation.

Long-Term Investment & Emission Reduction

The company increased its capital expenditure guidance for the 2020-2024 forecast period by $239 million to $2.9 billion. Specifically, for the electric utility segment, the company hiked its investment guidance by $73 million to $1 billion.These investments reflect the utility’s long-term and programmatic approach to grow, and augment the safety and reliability of its services. Also, these are aimed to extend Black Hills’ renewable energy capacity.

Moreover, the company is focused on clean energy development and has been modernizing its electric system for more than a decade. It is developing a renewable energy portfolio to build one of the cleanest energy grids by using wind, solar and natural gas generation.

Black Hills targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions in its electric division by 40% within 2030 and 70% by 2040. Also, in its gas utilities, it expects to reduce 50%greenhouse gas emissions by 2035. These targets are set,considering 2005 as the baseline. Thus, the company’s recent move is in line with its long-term emission reduction goal.

Transition in Utility Space

In the past few years, the U.S. renewable energy industry has witnessed significant growth. Awareness of lower pollution levels led the U.S. electric utility industry to use renewable energy sources in substantial proportion. Some of the players like Alliant Energy (LNT - Free Report) , NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE - Free Report) and Consolidated Edison (ED - Free Report) are tapping the opportunity to transition to renewable energy for adopting a business strategy that is environmentally sustainable.

Alliant Energy is on track to add another 200 MW of wind projects in its production portfolio by this year-end and serve its customers in Iowa and Wisconsin. Also, NextEra Energy Resources continues to work on its strategy of making a long-term investment in clean energy assets. In line with this, the company announced plans to add nearly 15,500-19,800 MW of alternate power generation assets across the United States during the 2019-2022 time frame.

Moreover, Consolidated Edison is investing steadily in enhancing its renewable generation assets. It is currently the second largest solar power producer in North America and boasts 3.4 gigawatts-ac of renewable energy production capacity.

Zacks Rank & Price Performance

Black Hills currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The stock has gained 9% in the past three months, outperforming the industry’s rise of 5.5%.

Zacks Names “Single Best Pick to Double”

From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.

You know this company from its past glory days, but few would expect that it’s poised for a monster turnaround. Fresh from a successful repositioning and flush with A-list celeb endorsements, it could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in a little more than 9 months and Nvidia which boomed +175.9% in one year.

Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>

Published in