Sustainable growth
Supply chain and diversity
In 2024, we spent approximately $831 million with suppliers to support our utility operations and better serve our customers. Of that spend, 29% was completed with businesses within our eight-state service territory. We remain committed to supporting the local businesses in our communities. In 2024, our spend with small businesses, women and minority owned businesses and other diverse suppliers represented 12% of our total dollars spent.
We're committed to safety and ethical business practices. These fundamental values guide how the decisions we make today are the right decisions for tomorrow. We expect our suppliers of goods and services to adhere to these fundamental values and apply them to how they do business.
Our Supplier Code of Conduct describes our expectations in more detail.
Direct economic impact
Our social impact adds economic value within our local communities. We play a critical role in the ecosystem providing jobs and benefits to our employees, by paying taxes, community giving and purchasing goods and services to maintain and upgrade our vast network of electric and natural gas system infrastructure. In 2024, our direct economic impact was estimated at $1.45 billion.
Financial performance
We are pleased to report that 2024 was a year of strong financial and operational performance for Black Hills Corp. Thanks to the dedication of our employees and the continued trust of our customers, we successfully navigated industry challenges, strengthened our financial position and made significant progress on our long-term strategic goals. Our steadfast commitment to operational excellence, regulatory collaboration, and infrastructure investment has positioned us for continued growth and success.
Throughout 2024, our team consistently delivered the safe, reliable and cost-effective service our customers expect from us every day. In addition to our day-to-day excellence in serving our customers, we advanced our regulatory and strategic initiatives to create value for our shareholders.
We delivered earnings per share (EPS) of $3.91 in 2024, representing a 4.3% increase from the midpoint of our 2023 guidance. This achievement was driven by $0.82 per share in new rates, rider recovery and customer growth, demonstrating the effectiveness of our disciplined regulatory strategy and operational efficiencies. Our financial strength has allowed us to continue investing in critical infrastructure while maintaining a focus on cost management and customer affordability.
We increased our dividend, extending our industry leading track record to 54 consecutive years of increases and 82 consecutive years of paying dividends to our shareholders. This accomplishment places us among an elite group of companies with a long-standing commitment to dividend growth, reinforcing our confidence in the strength and stability of our business.
In line with our financial strategy, we successfully completed our planned equity issuance for 2024, raising net proceeds of $182 million. This further solidified our balance sheet, providing us with the flexibility to fund key growth initiatives while applying financial discipline in a dynamic market environment to maintain our solid investment-grade credit ratings. With our strong financial base, we are well-positioned to continue delivering shareholder value for years to come.
Capital investment
As we invest in infrastructure and growth, our investments in our electric and gas systems support reliability and customer growth. Through constructive relationships, we advanced our regulatory initiatives and implemented new rates in four of our six gas utilities. We also continued to advance our wildfire mitigation plans, working with stakeholders toward implementing our Emergency Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) program and developing wildfire legislation in the states where we operate electric utilities.
On behalf of our customers, we invested approximately $800 million across our extensive electric and gas systems, focusing on safety and reliability while supporting customer growth. These ongoing capital projects and investment programs are critical to maintaining the high level of electric and gas service our customers depend upon.