Decade of the 50's
1955
In 1955 Mr. B. B. Neel retired from the Company. He was Secretary-Treasurer for many years after its incorporation and, in recent years, served as Vice President and Financial Officer. Robert Protheroe, Vice President in charge of operations for twelve years, died in 1955. He had retired on September 1, 1954, and acted in an advisory capacity until his death.
On March 23, 1955, a new contract with Ellsworth Air Force Base became effective. It extended the old contract for supplying approximately 4,000 kW of power to the Base until August 31, 1962. Under the contract the Company supplied about one-half of the requirements at the base. The balance was supplied by the Bureau of Reclamation from Missouri River generation plants.
On June 11, 1955, a contract was signed with the Bureau of Reclamation for "Wheeling" of Missouri River power to the members of Rushmore G & T Electric Cooperative that were directly connected to the South Dakota transmission system of the Company. The contract also provided for delivery to the Company of up to 10,000 kW of "secondary" and "dump" energy from the Missouri River when available and for the interchange of emergency and "economy" power. Approximately 10 million kWh of emergency and economy energy was delivered to the Company the first four months of the contract. The power was returned to the Bureau in the winter months when water was low in the dams. This interchange arrangement was very helpful to both parties for many years.
On June 13, 1955, a contract was signed with Rushmore G & T Cooperative for the financing of a 16,500 kW generation unit at Kirk plant at a cost of about $3.5 million. The contract was similar to the one executed with them in 1950 for a unit at the Osage plant. It was planned to have the plant on the line by 1956.
Prior to the selection of Kirk for the plant site, the railroad company had agreed to a 35 percent reduction in the freight rate on coal to be shipped to Kirk from the Wyodak Mining Company coal mine.
The Company continued to build load as one of the major oil companies built an oil pipeline from the North Dakota-Montana oil fields through Wyoming to connect with an east-west pipeline. A pumping station was installed near the Osage Plant.
In the mid-1950's the Company was back to operating the total merchandise operation. Sales and service were more than $369,000 with a net of $22,000 or six percent. Low cost natural gas was available to 83 percent of the Company's residential customers. The gas company aggressively merchandised so there was competition for water heating and cooking loads. Residential electric range saturation was 46 percent by 1955 and water heater saturation had reached 19 percent. Much of the success of this load building effort was credited to the excellent work done by the Home Service and Appliance Service Departments. The electrical appliance dealers were very active and the Company's aim was to conduct the merchandise business in a manner that was not competitive with the dealers and to encourage and aid them in their efforts to be profitable. The Company policy was to price appliances high enough to provide reasonable profit margins and to encourage dealers to also offer good appliance service and repair. As a result, the Company's dealer relations were quite good through the years.
Dealers in the area sold most of the refrigerators, freezers, washers, and other items which no longer needed promotion. The Company sold approximately 25 percent of the electric ranges and 80 percent of the electric water heaters, both items still needed active promotion and sales efforts. As they became popular the Company's share of sales dropped off.
A 69 kV line was completed from Custer to Hot Springs, South Dakota. This line was necessary to serve a uranium mill constructed in 1955 and increased use by customers south of Custer. Two 69 kV transmission lines were proposed. One from the Kirk Plant to Belle Fourche and the other between Hot Springs and Edgemont. A new 26 kV line was planned between Nisland and Newell. A considerable amount of land was purchased on Deadwood Avenue with the expectation of building a new 69 kV substation and a projected power plant installation.
On April 20 and 21, 1955, an election was held to determine whether or not the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union should act as bargaining agent for 177 of the Company's employees. More than 55 percent of those eligible to vote rejected the proposal.
In January 1955 the Company rented office space in the Securities Building on Sixth and Kansas City across from the Company office. The additional office space was needed until a new three story addition adjacent to the existing office building and extending to Kansas City Street was built. Personnel who moved to the offices were Ben French, B. B. Neel, Robert Protheroe, H. R. McIntosh, Naomi Schanke, and Mary McRoberts.
A major change in the Company occurred in 1955 that affected many of the Company's construction people and their families. Traditionally, all line crews had been located at Deadwood because it served as the headquarters for Northern Hills operations. The decision was made to separate the large Deadwood crew into a number of crews to be located at work center areas throughout the system. The new line crews were headquartered in Newcastle, Custer (later moved to Hot Springs), Deadwood, and two crews in Rapid City. There was also a concrete crew and a communications and electronics maintenance crew. The three Hills crews consisted of one foreman for each crew, Mario Miglia, Newcastle; Barney Westcott, Custer; George Westcott, Deadwood; and five crew members on each crew.
In Rapid City, Chet Russell was foreman with seven crewmen. The other Rapid City crew with Joe DiSanto as foreman, was actually divided into two crews with John Schunneman and Jim Cummings each having a crew of seven men. The new plan gave the Company a more balanced organization with the crews located near the major portion of their work. In addition, it saved a lot of travel time and gave the men an opportunity to spend more time with their families. It also located the crews so they could get to the source of trouble faster.
On March 18, 1955, the Company employees had worked 1 million man-hours without a lost time accident. It took nearly 19 months to reach that mark as the Company averaged just over 50,000 man-hours of work each month. Further recognition for the 1954 safety record came from the National Safety Council. It was a plaque for first place for Group Din the Public Utilities Safety Contest. The Company was one of 21 public utilities in the nation which maintained a no lost time accident record during the year. There were 243 public utilities entered in the contest. Earlier in the year the Company also received an Award of Merit for the safety efforts over the past three years. The award was given for lowering the accident frequency and severity rate below the national average in the period 1951 through 1955.
Another milestone was passed April 28, 1955, when a pew 47,000 kV transmission line between the Wyodak plant and Upton, Wyoming, was energized. It integrated the 5,000 kW Wyodak plant into the Company's interconnected system.
In accordance with the provisions of leased plant agreements between Rushmore G & T Co-ops, the Company began "Wheeling" Missouri River power to the members of Rushmore directly connected to the Company's South Dakota transmission system on April 20, 1956. It made an additional 3,000 kW of capacity available in the leased plants.
During the early months of 1955, the Company supplied approximately 7 million kWh of off-peak energy to the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation. The energy was then returned to the Company as required during the routine overhaul shutdown of its generation units.
Paul Fish, another of the top electrical men of Black Hills Power and Light Company, developed an ingenious method to control both Redwater plants by means of a carrier from a control point at the Pluma Plant. It was felt that this method of operation would lower the cost of production sufficiently to offset the cost of rebuilding the equipment. Upon completion of the installation it was possible for the operator at Pluma to initiate a starting action at Pluma. It automatically examined the Redwater plant to see that there were no abnormal situations existing and if everything was in order the water inlet gates were opened automatically and the machine was brought up to speed. The synchronizing equipment then either raised or lowered the speed to match the line frequency, checked the voltage, and the machine was put on the line.
Paul Fish was a "master electrician" in the truest sense of the word. There are still many monuments to his skills around the plants and substations in the system.