County emergency officials press Black Hills Energy on planned power shutoffs, urge local coordination

Pennington County emergency management officials on June 17 pressed Black Hills Energy for details about the utility’s planned public safety power shutdowns — preemptive de-energizations of lines intended to reduce wildfire ignitions — and asked for sharper, local coordination to protect medically vulnerable residents and critical infrastructure.

Dustin Willett, Pennington County director of emergency management, told the Board of Commissioners the tool is already in use in other Western states and that local planning must focus on residents who rely on electricity for life-sustaining medical devices, on water systems that need electric pumps, and on telecommunication and public-notification capabilities. “Our concern is if these shutdowns are long duration — and our definition for long duration power loss is over 24 hours — there are cascading consequences,” Willett said.

Willett and other county officials said they have been meeting with Black Hills Energy (BHE) and are seeking data the county needs to estimate the scope of harm: the number and locations of electricity-dependent…