Decade of the 60's
The agreement between the Company and Consumers Public Power District for the purchase of firm power went into effect. This contract was initiated to delay installation of a new generating unit for at least two years. The contract called for the two parties to exchange emergency, economy and interchange power even after the contract expired August 31, 1965.
After 37 years of dedicated service to the Company, Henry J. Oestreich retired. Lloyd Adel succeeded him as Line Superintendent. Everett Pompy became Personnel Director in June 1965.
C. Wilson Burnette of Newcastle, Wyoming, was elected to the Board of Directors replacing Marshall M. Koch who resigned. Paul Quarnberg also resigned and Charles H. Lien was elected to replace him. Martin Westberg, General Sales Manager, retired.
The Company was pleased to receive an invitation to appear before the New York Society of Security Analysts on December 29, 1965. It was an opportunity to make the Company better known in the financial community.
On November 26, 1965, ten megawatts of quick-starting diesel equipment was formally dedicated. The dedication of these units was of particular significance following the recent blackout of the Northwestern portion of the United States. The news media was especially kind in explaining to the people of the area the effect of this million dollar project in providing emergency backup power in addition to continued adequate and dependable service.
In 1965, Wyodak Resources Development Corp. leased more than 2,200 acres of federal coal reserves located adjacent to the coal mine. The new lease, together with previous reserves, now provided the Company more than 180 million tons of economically recoverable coal. The supply of low cost fuel is expected to provide for the Company's needs for many years.
The Company started a four-year plan to replace incandescent streetlighting fixtures, primarily in the residential areas. Each year one-fourth of the incandescent fixtures would be replaced by new mercury vapor luminaries. The mercury vapor streetlights were installed on main streets into communities in the early 1950's. The Company was overwhelmed by the reception governing bodies of the various communities gave the streetlighting program.
The Company successfully completed the streetlight conversion program initiated in April of 1965. The project replaced all incandescent streetlight fixtures in the service area with the modern, more efficient mercury vapor streetlights. Every community could now enjoy the convenience and safety of a modern streetlighting system. Black Hills Power and Light Company's streetlighting program was recognized by Edison Electric Institute's Highway Lighting Committee as an outstanding lighting promotion.
The employees, in an election held in October 1965, declined for the fourth time in the last three-years a proposal to be represented by a union. The company received 58 percent of the votes to 42 percent for the union. On two previous occasions the union withdrew their request for an election before the election could be held.
The Redwater hydro-electric plant was closed and junked in 1966. It brought to an end an era in the history of the electric industry in the Black Hills. Though methods of electric generation have been modernized during the 59 year history of the Redwater plant, old-timers in the industry reminisce with pride about the vital role it played in the early development of the Black Hills area.
Removal of obsolete generating equipment at the Rapid City and Pluma plants also began in 1965. The Rapid City Plant, located on Canal Street, was constructed in 1928 by Dakota Power Company and housed a 600 kW McIntosh Seymour internal-combustion generator. In 1935 a 900 kW Fairbanks Morse generator was installed, and in 1938 a 1000 kW Worthington gas generator was added. In 1940 a 3000 kW steam generator was installed. It was moved to the Wyodak Plant in Wyoming in 1961. The Rapid City Plant building was later used to house the Rapid City District line service department and the meter lab and shop. Both of these departments had been located in the general and local office building on Sixth Street.
The Pluma Plant, constructed just before the turn of the century, housed a 2,000 kW steam turbine installed in 1922, a 3000 kW steam turbine installed in 1935, and three boilers. A 5000 kW steam turbine, installed in 1939, was moved to Kirk Plant near Lead in 1961. The removal of plants from the system left the Company without a single plant that was in existence when Black Hills Power and Light Company was organized in 1941.
Tri-County Electric Association, Inc., a Wyoming cooperative, had obtained all of its power requirements from the Company since 1954. Tri--County is one of the so-called "preference customers" of the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, and as such began purchasing about one-half of its power requirements from the Bureau in November 1965. The Company anticipated the loss of the remainder of the Tri-County load at an undetermined date in 1967.
Beginning in March of 1968, all power for the South Dakota state-owned Cement Plant would be purchased from the Bureau of Reclamation. The Cement Plant was another so-called "preference customer".
The "ABC's of Electricity" program was presented for the first time to the third grade classes at South Canyon Grade School in 1966 by Karl Meier and Charles Hershey. This program and similar programs continue to be popular with the schools in the Company's service area.
A new dispatching board was installed at the Rapid City Service Center on Canal Street in 1966. The board was made of perforated steel, painted with a light gray map of Rapid City and overlaid with dark gray streets and alleys. The twelve distribution substations, Ben French switching station, and the 14.4-24.9 kV, 69 kV, 115-161 kV lines and distribution feeders were shown on the board with colored tape.
A new crew was established with the formation of a tree trimming unit. A 2 1/2 ton truck equipped with an aerial basket, a dump box, and a trailer-mounted chipper were purchased. The crew was set up with Jerry O'Neil as foreman and Nels Jenson and Junior Fieseler as tree trimmers. Jerry O'Neil, with a master's degree in forestry, was hired as Forester for the Company and held this position until retirement on January 31, 1985.
A popular Company sponsored program, "Kaleidoscope Idea Exchange", was aired over KOTA radio and TV for several years by celebrity Polly Weedman, wife of George Weedman. The popularity of Polly's program is demonstrated best by the fact that during a 27-month period 1,100 volunteer women from throughout the Company's service area braved all kinds of weather to drive to Black Hills Power and Light Company in Rapid City to assemble the thousands of printed pages into individual books. The books contained homemaker ideas and recipes provided by program listeners and were mailed to interested homemakers.
The Company made rate adjustments in certain general service and industrial classifications. Applications for such authority were filed with regulatory bodies in June and July and the changes, resulting in a nearly $50,000 reduction in revenue, were put into effect in South Dakota on August 1, 1966. In the case of Wyoming customers however, a delay was created by a group of industrial customers who filed formal protests with the Public Service Commission. A formal hearing was called and the rates were approved as filed, except that the Company was directed to eliminate the fuel adjustment clause. The Company subsequently filed revised rate schedules to compensate for the small loss of revenue resulting from elimination of the fuel adjustment clause. The new rate increase was denied by the PSC.
In late June and early July of 1966 the Company, along with The Babcock and Wilson Company, conducted an experimental study in the use of North Dakota lignite coal in the cyclone furnace at the Ben French Station. Many representatives of interested companies, including electric equipment manufacturers, coal producers, railroads, electric utilities, consulting engineers and government agencies, visited the Ben French Station during the test period. Although The Babcock and Wilcox Company had made no official report at that time, it was indicated that the information gained during the test would be very valuable in the development of a cyclone furnace that could successfully burn low-grade lignite coal. The Company felt that Black Hills Power and Light had made a significant research and development contribution to the utility industry through its efforts in making the study possible.