- Combustion
- Under construction
- Operating
- 10 · 100 · 1,000 MW
Map
- Combustion
- Under construction
- Operating
Ben French: location and 1 exact-grade project within 15 mi. Basemap: Protomaps, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Ben French
Power plant · Gas, combustion turbine
Key facts
Power plant · Gas, combustion turbineran 2% of 2025 Retiring- Capacity
- Capacity: sourceEIA-860M · Open licenseMW
- Commissioned
- 1965
- Net generation, 2025
- 20,003 MWh
- Grid
- 69 kV to Black Hills Power Inc (WACM)
- Location
- Pennington County, South Dakota
- Operated by
- Black Hills Power, Inc.
Output
- Gas
- Coal
- Oil
Details
Who’s behind it
- Owner
- Black Hills Corp
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- Technology
- Gas, combustion turbine source: “Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine”
- Age
- 61 years since 1965
- Heat rate
- 17,263 Btu/kWh 2025
All 6 attributes from EIA-860M Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| EPA greenhouse gas reporting (GHGRP) |
|
| Fuel burned (MMBtu), 2025 | 345,305 |
| Capacity factor, 2025 | 0.021 |
| Heat rate (Btu/kWh), 2025 | 17,262.7 |
| Net generation (MWh), 2025 | 20,003 |
| Balancing authority code | WACM |
Retirement
EIA-860M September 2026StatusAt least half of the plant's in-service nameplate capacity is scheduled to retire, on dates its owner has reported to EIA. As of EIA-860M for September 2026.- Capacity retired
- 25 MW
- Generators retired
- 1
- Next scheduled retirement
- September 2027
- Capacity scheduled to retire
- 108 MW
- Generators scheduled to retire
- 8
- Share of in-service capacity scheduled
- 98%
- Capacity still in service
- 110 MW
| Generator | Technology | Nameplate | State | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST1 | Conventional Steam Coal | 25 MW | Retired | March 2014 |
| 1 | Petroleum Liquids | 2 MW | Scheduled to retire | September 2027 |
| 2 | Petroleum Liquids | 2 MW | Scheduled to retire | September 2027 |
| 3 | Petroleum Liquids | 2 MW | Scheduled to retire | September 2027 |
| 5 | Petroleum Liquids | 2 MW | Scheduled to retire | September 2027 |
| GT1 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | 25 MW | Scheduled to retire | September 2027 |
| GT2 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | 25 MW | Scheduled to retire | September 2027 |
| GT3 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | 25 MW | Scheduled to retire | September 2027 |
| GT4 | Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | 25 MW | Scheduled to retire | September 2027 |
By technology
| Technology | Retired | Scheduled to retire |
|---|---|---|
| Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine | 100 MW | |
| Conventional Steam Coal | 25 MW | |
| Petroleum Liquids | 8 MW |
Grid
EIA-860 2025Grid fieldsAs the plant reported them to EIA-860 for 2025 (Schedule 2).- Grid voltage at the plant
- 69 kV
- Transmission or distribution system owner
- Black Hills Power Inc
- Balancing authority
- Western Area Power Administration - Rocky Mountain Region
- NERC region
- WECC
Transmission lines within 15 mi (2)
Can the connection be reused?
A plant that retires usually leaves its substation, transmission connection and interconnection agreement behind, and those may be reusable by a new project at the same site. FERC Order No. 845 lets an interconnection customer use surplus interconnection service at an existing site, and some transmission providers' tariffs let a replacement resource take over a retiring unit's interconnection service, usually within a set time after the retirement. Whether any such right still exists here, who holds it and on what terms depends on the owner, the transmission provider and timing; this page does not establish any of that.
Ownership
2 companies2| Company | Role | Share | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Hills Power, Inc. | Operator | EIA-860M | ||
| BLACK HILLS CORP | Owner | 100.0% | Dec 31, 2023 | EPA GHGRP |
Timeline
- Stated Units 1, 2, 3, 5, GT1, GT2, GT3, GT4 scheduled to retire, 108 MW · EIA-860M
- Stated Unit ST1 scheduled to retire, 25 MW · EIA-860M
- In service · EIA-860M
Sources
5 sourcesSources EIA-860M · LBNL · EIA · EIA-860M Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory · EPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program — facility register with parent-company shares (Envirofacts pub_dim_facility; FLIGHT)
Sources
- EIA-860M
- LBNLYin, Nait Belaid & Heleno (2026), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, OEDI, CC BY 4.0: A Harmonized Geospatial Dataset of U.S. Transmission Lines: Linking FERC Form 1 and HIFLD, 1994-2024. Modified by Inframation: HIFLD-side fields only, names re-cased, coordinates rounded.
- EIASource: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electricity bulk data (Form EIA-923 monthly plant series)
- EIA-860M Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory
- EPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program — facility register with parent-company shares (Envirofacts pub_dim_facility; FLIGHT)
Around this plant
Nearby
within 15 mi| Project | Kind | Away | MW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lange Generating Station Under construction | Gas, reciprocating engine | 2.4 mi | 99.6 |
Sources EIA-860M