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Black Hills Corporation operates utilities mainly in rural areas of the U.S. Rocky Mountains and Midwest. Natural gas supplies most of its revenue: it buys gas and delivers it through its pipeline network to homes and businesses. Customers who buy gas from another seller still pay Black Hills to transport it. Electricity is the other major business; the company generates power and buys additional supplies, then delivers electricity through its transmission and distribution lines. Retail customer bills provide most revenue in both businesses.
Regulators set rates based on approved operating costs and investments, including an allowed return on utility infrastructure. Black Hills can pass prudently incurred gas, fuel and purchased-power costs through to customers, but full and timely recovery is not guaranteed. Earnings therefore depend on approved rates and investment recovery, as well as energy use—especially winter heating demand for gas.
Black Hills has agreed to combine with NorthWestern. The companies remain independently operated until the proposed merger closes, which requires shareholder and regulatory approvals and other closing conditions.
The risk section is the longest, dullest part of the filing. This keeps only what can really hurt you: where it hits, how hard, when it plays out.
Every company claims an edge. Each one is checked against hard numbers like margins and returns: which hold, and which line gives way first.
NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. and Black Hills Corporation sell electricity and natural gas to utility customers, and their proposed all-stock merger ties their shares through a fixed exchange ratio. Watch shareholder votes and regulatory approvals: conditions imposed by regulators could hurt the combined company or prevent completion.
MDU Resources Group, Inc. is both a regulated electricity and gas peer and a paying customer of Black Hills Corporation. Its Montana-Dakota business buys up to 49,000 kW of capacity annually from Black Hills Power for Sheridan-area customers under a contract running through December 31, 2028.
ONE GAS, INC. offers a comparison for Black Hills Corporation's Kansas gas business: both distribute regulated natural gas chiefly to households and businesses that use it for heating. Watch demand from those customers during the heating season, when Black Hills recognizes a significant share of its gas revenue.
Avista Corporation shares Black Hills Corporation's need to supply western utility customers with both its own generation and purchased electricity, alongside natural gas service. Avista's power purchases and surplus-power sales offer a comparison for Black Hills' supply mix; Black Hills can pass prudently incurred purchased-power costs to customers.
Spire Inc. provides a comparison for Black Hills Corporation's heating-season gas business: both sell gas to utility customers and charge to carry customer-owned gas through regulated networks. Spire Missouri's heating-energy sales are the clearest line to watch alongside Black Hills' winter gas demand.
Northwest Natural Holding Company and Black Hills Corporation both depend on households and businesses buying distributed natural gas, with electricity an alternative heating fuel. Watch Northwest Natural's residential gas business: it supplied 66% of NWN Gas Utility's margin in 2025, making customer fuel choices particularly relevant to the electrification risk Black Hills identifies.
Atmos Energy Corporation offers a comparison for Black Hills Corporation's gas networks: both charge customers for gas sales and transportation and own transmission pipelines and storage facilities. Atmos's regulated distribution rates are intended to cover costs and a reasonable return on invested capital, making rate decisions a useful comparison for returns on Black Hills' gas infrastructure.
Alliant Energy Corporation is a regional comparison for Black Hills Corporation: both supply regulated electricity and natural gas to Midwestern customers, including gas distribution in Iowa. Alliant's IPL gas sales and transportation to Iowa retail customers are the closest business to compare with Black Hills' operations in that state.
CMS Energy Corporation offers a comparison for Black Hills Corporation's combined utility model: its Consumers business generates and delivers electricity and distributes and stores gas for utility customers. Focus on Consumers' electric and gas results rather than CMS's independent power business, since Consumers supplies the substantial majority of CMS's income and operating revenue.
CenterPoint Energy, Inc. and Black Hills Corporation both earn utility revenue by delivering electricity and distributing natural gas, with infrastructure investment and customer demand supporting those businesses. CenterPoint's electric-network and gas-distribution results are useful comparisons for Black Hills, whose 2025 margins benefited from new rates, approved cost recovery and customer growth.
Meta Platforms, Inc. pays Black Hills Corporation's Wyoming Electric for power at its AI data center, making its electricity needs a source of utility load growth rather than a utility comparison. Meta earns almost all its revenue from advertisers; watch the data center's move from construction power to permanent service, which Black Hills said was planned for later in the first quarter of 2026.
Microsoft Corp buys data-center electricity from Black Hills Corporation's Wyoming Electric, and its growing load supports the utility's sales and infrastructure expansion. Microsoft sells cloud-based AI, software and services; watch its data centers' electricity demand, which continued to grow in 2025 under Wyoming Electric's large-load tariff.
Meta Platforms, Inc. earningsMETA
Meta Platforms' report can offer clues from its data-center buildout about the electricity demand behind Black Hills' large-customer load in Wyoming.
Watch what Meta says about data-center construction and electricity needs. Continued buildout would support the demand behind Black Hills' large-customer load in Wyoming; a slowdown would weaken that signal. Meta's report alone cannot show how Black Hills' actual electricity sales changed.
CMS Energy Corporation earningsCMS
CMS Energy's Consumers utility business runs both electric and gas operations, offering a comparison for the demand and operating conditions shared with Black Hills.
Focus on Consumers' electric and gas utilities, not CMS Energy's independent power business. If both utility businesses hold up, that supports the view that conditions shared with Black Hills are favorable; weakness in one points to possible demand or operating pressure in the corresponding Black Hills business. The companies do not serve identical markets, so this is a comparison, not a read-through of Black Hills' results.
Fed Interest Rate Decision
Black Hills borrows to fund utility upgrades and growth, so Fed rate decisions that influence borrowing costs can change what it pays to finance its investment plans.
Expected4.0%Last release4.0%
If it comes in above expectations
If rates rise more than expected, Black Hills may pay more to refinance maturing debt or raise new funds, leaving less cash for utility projects and other needs.
If it comes in below expectations
If rates rise less than expected or fall, refinancing maturing debt or raising new funds may cost Black Hills less, easing pressure on cash available for utility projects and other needs.
ONE GAS, INC. earningsOGS
ONE Gas's report can show how gas demand from Kansas households and businesses compares with the customer demand behind Black Hills' Kansas distribution business.
Watch ONE Gas's gas sales and customer use. Firm demand would suggest heating-season use is holding up, a favorable signal for Black Hills' Kansas gas business; weaker demand would raise the possibility that weather or lower customer use is also a headwind for Black Hills. Their service areas differ, so ONE Gas's sales are not Black Hills' results.
Black Hills Corporation earningsThis company
Black Hills Corporation's report will show whether customer demand and cost recovery are supporting profits in its electric and gas utilities.
Read electric and gas utility revenue alongside each business’s margin. If revenue rises and margins hold or improve, customer demand and approved cost recovery are translating into stronger utility economics. If revenue rises but margins weaken, higher pass-through fuel or gas costs—or recovery that has not kept pace—may explain the gap. Pressure in both margins would make demand and cost recovery the key questions.
Atmos Energy Corporation earningsATO
Atmos Energy's report can show whether regulated gas rates are supporting returns on network investment, a key comparison for Black Hills' gas infrastructure.
Read Atmos's network investment alongside the related rate recovery. If rates keep pace with investment and support a reasonable return, that suggests the regulatory model can support continued network spending; if recovery falls short or lags, returns on Black Hills' gas infrastructure merit closer attention. The companies face different regulators, so their outcomes need not match.
Avista Corporation earningsAVA
Avista Corporation's report can show how power purchases and surplus-power sales affect its supply business, a comparison for Black Hills' own generation-and-purchase mix.
Read Avista's power purchases alongside its surplus-power sales. Manageable purchase needs with support from surplus sales would suggest a better balance between owned generation and market supply; rising purchase pressure with weaker sales would put Black Hills' supply costs and applicable cost recovery in sharper focus. Their generation mixes and rate rules differ.
NorthWestern Energy Group, Inc. earningsNWE
NorthWestern Energy Group's report may update the merger process; approval conditions could affect whether its proposed combination with Black Hills proceeds and how the combined company can operate.
Watch shareholder votes, regulatory approvals, and any conditions attached to them. Progress through the required steps would make completion more plausible; delays, conditions that could harm the combined company, or missing approvals could postpone or prevent the deal, leaving Black Hills operating independently. No update in the report would not establish that approvals are complete.
MDU Resources Group, Inc. earningsMDU
MDU Resources Group's report can offer a customer-side view of demand behind the contracted power capacity Black Hills sells to its Montana-Dakota utility business.
Read demand in MDU's Montana-Dakota business alongside the capacity it contracts to buy from Black Hills. Firm customer demand would support the need behind those wholesale power sales; weaker demand would make that customer-side support less clear, although the contract may still require purchases. MDU's utility results alone cannot establish how Black Hills' contract revenue changed.
Industrial Production MoM (Oct)
Industrial production tracks factory, mine and utility output; for Black Hills, stronger or weaker industrial activity can change how much its industrial customers use electricity and gas and the related utility revenue.
Stronger industrial output can mean more electricity and gas use by Black Hills’ industrial customers and support sales; weaker output can mean less use and weaker sales. The filing notes that Wyoming industrial sales rose mainly with tariff customers.
