PUEBLO, Colo., Nov. 7, 2019 – Black Hills Energy today partnered with city, county and state officials from Pueblo and throughout Southern Colorado to celebrate completion of the new 60-megawatt (MW) Busch Ranch II wind project, which will provide an estimated $240 million in energy bill savings to customers over 25 years. Busch Ranch II will generate enough renewable energy to power approximately 28,000 Southern Colorado homes per year.

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students from Pueblo Central High School were on hand for the ribbon-cutting near Walsenburg, to learn more about renewable energy in Southern Colorado and opportunities in the field.

The Busch Ranch II wind project includes 27 Vestas wind turbines, components of which were manufactured at Vestas’ Colorado factories, including tower sections built at Vestas’ Pueblo campus, the largest wind turbine tower factory in the world.  The project generated 150 new jobs, local supply chain purchases and additional tax revenues for Southern Colorado.

Black Hills Energy expects to place Busch Ranch II into service yet this year. Along with two other wind farms, Busch Ranch and Peak View, Black Hills Energy will generate a combined 150 MW of wind power, with natural gas and solar power rounding out the Southern Colorado grid.

“All of us at Black Hills Energy are fully supportive of efforts to add more clean, renewable energy in Southern Colorado and across our electric utility service territories,” said Linn Evans, president and CEO of Black Hills Corp. “While we’re taking time to celebrate today’s milestone, our work to add more wind and solar is far from complete. In the coming years, we’ll continue to expand our renewable energy offerings to meet customer and community demand.”

“Our Black Hills Energy team is extremely proud of this achievement,” said Vance Crocker, vice president, operations, for Black Hills Energy Colorado Electric. “Bringing Busch Ranch II online will allow us to deliver on three of our most important priorities: adding more renewable power to help communities reach their goals; adding jobs and economic activity for our region; and saving money for our customers through lower-cost energy sources.”