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110 MW Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine (100 MW) + Petroleum Liquids (10 MW) operating in Pennington, SD
110 MW
Nameplate Capacity
9
Generators
units
Hybrid (2)
Technology
Natural Gas Fired Combustion Turbine + Petroleum Liquids
1965
Operating Since
Coordinates
44.0872, -103.2612
County
Pennington, SD
Nearby Plants
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| Field | EIA | GEM | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Black Hills Power, Inc. | Black Hills Power | — |
| Owner(s) | Black Hills Power, Inc. | Black Hills | — |
| Status | Operating | — | — |
The Ben French plant, located in Pennington County, South Dakota, has a total capacity of 110 MW across 9 generators. The plant began operating in 1965 and is owned by Black Hills, with Black Hills Power, Inc. serving as the operator. The primary fuel source is distillate fuel oil (DFO), and the plant utilizes both natural gas-fired combustion turbine and petroleum liquids technologies, classifying it as a hybrid facility.
The plant operates within the Western Area Power Administration - Rocky Mountain Region balancing authority and the WECC NERC region. In terms of size, the Ben French plant ranks 3rd out of 3 plants in South Dakota and 59th out of 60 nationally. The latest annual generation data indicates an output of 20,003 MWh, resulting in a capacity factor of 2.1%.
Generated from EIA, GEM, and public data sources
Grid Region
Mountain West
Market
Bilateral Market
NERC Region
WECC — Western Electricity Coordinating Council
Balancing Authority
Western Area Power Administration - Rocky Mountain Region (WACM)
Grid Voltage
69.0 kV
Regulatory Status
RE — Regulated
Entity Type
Investor-Owned Utility
Sector
Electric Utility
Monthly net generation as reported to EIA-923 — useful for historical context. Confidence varies sharply by fuel type; the band above and the “About this data” button explain the caveats specific to this plant and how InfraSure’s in-house model handles them.
2.0K MWh
Latest Month
20.0K MWh
Annual Generation
2.1%
Capacity Factor
Forward-looking generation outlook with probabilistic ranges across weather, demand, and policy scenarios. Powered by InfraSure's generation modeling stack.
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CO₂ Intensity
2631 lb/MWh
Low-utilization plant — per-MWh rate is dominated by startup/standby emissions; not directly comparable to baseload averages.
NOx
8 lb/MWh
SO₂
0.106 lb/MWh
CH₄
0.051 lb/MWh
N₂O
0.005 lb/MWh
Capacity Factor
0.3%
Annual Net Gen
3 GWh
CO₂eq
2634 lb/MWh
Subregion
WECC Rockies
2013
$765/kW
Est. Construction Cost
Total estimated cost: $84.1M
Forward revenue, DSCR bands, and refinancing risk projected under price, demand, and policy scenarios. Powered by InfraSure's asset cashflow stack.
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This plant is in a bilateral market territory without organized wholesale pricing. Nodal pricing data is not available.
No wholesale contracts disclosed in FERC EQR for this plant.
FERC EQR captures bilateral wholesale energy + capacity contracts ≥$1M/yr filed quarterly by jurisdictional sellers — covers renewable PPAs, thermal energy sales agreements, capacity contracts, and tolling agreements alike. Many plants don't appear: regulated-utility output flows to ratepayers via cost-of-service rather than bilateral contracts; small projects fall below the filing threshold; tax-equity-financed renewables route offtake to investors not utilities; merchant plants sell into ISO clearing markets without bilateral contracts. News-extracted buyer facts (below) may surface contracts disclosed only through announcements.
Last updated 2026-05-31
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