Black Hills Energy is cooking with gas. Falcon and other northern El Paso County residents are, too, thanks to the company’s acquisition of Aquila Gas in 2008. Dozens of employees are making sure the heat turns on at night and the fire lights under the pancakes.Thousands of miles of distribution pipeline allow natural gas as the heating fuel of choice for suburban areas.ìBlack Hills has grown conservatively over its 130 years, but at the same time they’ve managed to develop in eight states,î said Julie Rodriguez, program manager for external affairs. ìNow in Falcon, Monument and Black Forest, we’re expanding little by little with the residential growth that’s taking place in that area.îRodriquez said Aquila started as Solomon Valley Mining Co. in Kansas in 1902. The company provided steam and electric power to flour mills and surrounding residents. It eventually expanded into Colorado and into the natural gas industry. Aquila was purchased in 2008 by Black Hills Corp. Black Hills has a long history as well, dating back to 1883 as the Black Hills Electric Light Co. in North Dakota.There are 72,000 natural gas customers served by 4,054 miles of pipeline, Rodriguez said. Black Hills doesn’t drill and extract the natural gas itself. Most of its gas is purchased from Kinder Morgan, a pipeline transport company based in Texas. Kinder Morgan’s 70,000 miles of pipeline connects Black Hills to natural gas fields throughout the United States and Canada, according to their online system map. The closest fields to Falcon that Kinder Morgan services are located in Wyoming and Oklahoma.ìWe feel we’ve been well-received by our customers in the gas areas, and we’re committed to giving back to the community,î Rodriguez said. ìWe’ve worked with rotary clubs and the economic development corporations. Statewide, we give out 20 scholarships to graduating seniors, and I’ve made it a priority to split those equally between our electric customers and our gas customers like in El Paso County.îWorking on gas pipelines and meters can be dangerous work for the company’s utility workers and linemen, Rodriguez said. ìIt’s dangerous work, out there in the elements,î she said. ìI’m proud to work with these folks. They care about their community because they live in the community.îNatural gas is an energy-dense fuel, which adds to the hazard of working with it on a daily basis. One cubic foot of gas has 1,000 BTUs of energy. The average household uses about 193 cubic feet of natural gas per day, according to the American Gas Association. When liquefied, natural gas has almost the same thermal energy content as gasoline.During leaks, Black Hills lets the local fire department take the lead on response. ìWe assist in any manner they want us in order to keep the neighborhood safe,î Rodriguez said. ìYou should always call 911 first if you smell gas. A lot of times people will call our customer service number, too, which isn’t a bad thing, but local fire should handle the lead.îA March Falcon Middle School evacuation for a gas leak showed how Black Hills works with fire and building owners. ìOne of their contractors hit a roof valve,î Rodriguez said. ìThey called Falcon Fire, and the school district called us as well. We sent our crews right away to take care of our valves and pipes, and we checked our lines to make sure they were still intact so they could re-open the school.îThe Black Forest fire was an example of how utilities work closely with local and regional authorities to keep first responders and residents safe during disasters. ìWe had people at the joint information center to feed information to the agencies,î Rodriguez said. ìAnd I spent a lot of my time at the Red Cross evacuation centers to meet with evacuees and answer their questions. We were turning off gas in neighborhoods as people were evacuating. People were in the worst times of their lives, and it was good and appropriate that we were there so they wouldn’t have to worry about gas causing more issues.îBlack Hills has worked hard to stay ahead of environmental regulations and political issues to keep costs down for customers and protect the environment, Rodriguez said. ìWe’re in a good place in terms of meeting federal mandates for the future,î she said. ìWe don’t have a coal burning plant in Colorado at all since we decommissioned our old Canon City plant. On both the electric and gas sides, we’re the cleanest energy utility in Colorado.î
