Why does SDCEA rely on Black Hills Energy and Xcel Energy to deliver power to our area?

Why does SDCEA rely on Black Hills Energy and Xcel Energy to deliver power to our area?

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SDCEA contracts with our wholesale power supplier Tri-State to provide power to distribute through our lines and infrastructure. Tri-State relies on Black Hills Energy’s transmission lines to deliver power to certain SDCEA members who live in our southern service territory through a wheeling agreement. Similarly, Tri-State relies on Xcel Energy to deliver power to the northern section of our territory. These types of agreements are standard practice across the nation’s electric grids, as it is neither practical nor economically viable for every power supplier to build separate electric generation plants or lines into every service area, especially in more remote locations like to those of us living in south-central Colorado.

The U.S. power system is an interconnected network built on a collaborative concept. Wheeling power allows electricity to move electricity between grids, ensuring reliability, bridging supply gaps, and leveraging the interconnectedness of the system to provide consistent power to customers.

Decades ago, it was not profitable for electric companies to supply power to rural areas and rural areas often lacked the resources for private utilities to bring power their way. That is why electric cooperatives, like ours- SDCEA, were formed through the national Rural Electrification Act as not-for-profit independent entities, to deliver electricity to rural residents just as urban areas receive it. That collaboration continues today, with agreements like ours ensuring all residents, within towns and in rural areas, have access to reliable power.