Cooperative · South Dakota · EIA 1769
Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc
Cooperative · South Dakota · 11K customers. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's EIA Form 861, reliability for 2023 shows SAIDI 164 minutes/customer.
Reliability verdict
Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc shows above-average chronic reliability in 2023: 88 minutes SAIDI excluding major events across 11K customers.
- 164 min
- SAIDI 2023
- 0.78
- SAIFI 2023
- 88 min
- SAIDI ex-MED
- 11K
- Customers
Chronic reliability judged on SAIDI excluding major event days when reported (IEEE 1366). Source: EIA Form 861 · August 2026.
Signature read: mid-cohort SAIDI between the 96 and 258 minute tercile cuts.
What mid-pack Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc filings show
Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc is a member-owned electric cooperative operating in South Dakota under EIA identifier 1769. It reports service to approximately 11,185 customer accounts and generated about $0.02 billion in annual electric revenue, with a service footprint spanning 23 ZIP codes. Cooperative ownership means the utility is run for the benefit of the ratepayer-members who elect its board, rather than for shareholder returns, which can shift how rate and investment decisions get made.
In 2023, the average Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc customer experienced 163.8 minutes of power interruptions, a measure known as SAIDI, or System Average Interruption Duration Index. That keeps this utility below the typical 120–180 minute national benchmark, consistent with a well-hardened distribution system and fast restoration crews. Over the same period, SAIFI (outage events per customer) was 0.78, putting the typical customer at roughly 1 distinct interruption that year. Excluding major event days (hurricanes, ice storms), SAIDI drops to 87.8 minutes, the gap between that figure and the headline 163.8 reveals how much weather, not day-to-day infrastructure, drove outages.
The EIA dataset includes 4 years of continuous reporting (2020–2023) for Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc, which lets you see whether reliability is trending up or down rather than judging from a single snapshot. SAIDI dropped from 222.6 to 163.8 minutes across that span, a direction regulators and prospective customers tend to watch closely.
Based on this utility's own EIA Form 861 reliability record -- baseline (major-event- excluded) outage duration, total outage duration, and outage frequency -- each benchmarked against every reporting utility nationwide. Not a measure of electricity rates or customer service, which this portal does not track.
164 minutes per customer per year
Annual minutes without electric service (2023)
SAIDI by year (2020-2023)
Minutes per customer-year · EIA Form 861
Year-by-year SAIDI for Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc from the same EIA filings as the table below. Lower is better; major-event years can spike the headline figure.
Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc SAIDI trend
Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc vs the nationwide SAIDI distribution
Where this utility's headline SAIDI sits among every EIA Form 861 utility with a reported figure
164 Lower than most fewer outage minutes than 50% of 911 utilities
Utilities nationwide, banded by latest reported SAIDI (minutes)
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more utilities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. EIA Form 861 reliability filings · August 2026
Price vs. reliability
Where Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc sits on price vs. reliability
Among the 781 U.S. utilities large enough to report both revenue per customer and a recent outage record, Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc charges more per customer than 18% of them, and is more reliable (lower SAIDI) than 54% of them, placing it in the quadrant where it pays less while still being more reliable, the best-value quadrant. Revenue per customer and outage minutes are independent figures: paying more does not guarantee fewer outages.
Revenue per customer: $2,053/year · Latest SAIDI: 163.8 minutes/year.
SAIDI 2023 breakdown: 163.8 minutes
Reliability Trend (2020–2023)
| Year | SAIDI (min) | SAIDI nMED | SAIFI | Customers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 222.6 | 222.6 | 1.162 | 10,387 |
| 2021 | 393.9 | 132.2 | 1.668 | 10,560 |
| 2022 | 131.7 | 80.0 | 0.700 | 10,882 |
| 2023 | 163.8 | 87.8 | 0.778 | 11,145 |
SAIDI nMED = SAIDI without major event days. Source: EIA Form 861.
Service Area
Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc serves 23 ZIP codes in South Dakota.
Frequently Asked Questions
How reliable is Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc?
Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc had a SAIDI of 163.8 minutes in 2023. Excluding major storm impacts, this beats the national average, a sign of above-average reliability.
What type of utility is Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc?
Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc is classified as a Cooperative serving South Dakota.
How many customers does Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc serve?
Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc serves approximately 11,185 customers in South Dakota.
How has Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc's reliability changed over time?
Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc has 4 years of reliability data (2020-2023). This utility's SAIDI has stayed fairly flat over the period. Review the trend table above for year-by-year detail.
Utility Profile
- Type
- Cooperative
- State
- South Dakota
- Customers
- 11,185
- Annual Revenue
- $0.02B
- EIA ID
- 1769
Explore
Utilities with similar EIA profiles
Two cross-state peer sets for Black Hills Electric Coop, Inc. Same-state SAIDI neighbors stay in Read-with below; these neighborhoods are nearest other-state utilities with at least 10,000 reported customers.
Similar customer count
Nearest utilities by Form 861 customers (11K here), outside South Dakota.
Similar chronic SAIDI
Nearest utilities by latest SAIDI minutes (163.8 here), outside South Dakota, excluding the customer-peer set.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Form 861 annual electric power industry survey · ZIP service territory: OpenEI. Disclaimer: informational only, not professional advice. See full disclaimer · methodology.