Included in the results are the earnings from the utilities acquired from Aquila on July 14, 2008 and impacts from the following notable items:

$16.9 million, or $0.44 per share, gain from the sale of a 23.5% interest in the Wygen I generation facility that occurred on Jan. 22, 2009;

$9.6 million, or $0.25 per share net non-cash gain, resulting from an unrealized mark-to-market gain for certain interest rate swaps entered into in 2007;

Non-cash ceiling test impairment of oil and gas assets totaling $27.8 million, or $0.72 per share, driven by lower natural gas prices at the end of the quarter; and

Lower effective tax rate for the quarter related to a $3.8 million or $0.10 per share benefit associated with an improvement of a previously recorded tax position.

“With the transformational year of 2008 behind us, we are pleased to begin 2009 with improved financial and operating results for the first quarter. We are benefiting from a stronger regulated portfolio of assets that provides more stable cash flows and earnings as a result of the 2008 acquisition of additional utility properties. We continue to achieve strategic milestones critical to our business and growth initiatives including the approval of transmission and natural gas rate cases and the approval to construct rate base generation assets. Our Energy Marketing business performed better than during the same quarter in 2008 despite choosing to limit usage of their uncommitted stand-alone credit facility in an effort to preserve liquidity. We are in the process of obtaining a committed stand-alone credit facility to provide for the needs of Enserco and are encouraged by the expanded interest of banks as we near the completion of this process,” said David R. Emery, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Black Hills Corp.

In addition, on March 31, 2009 the Colorado Public Utilities Commission issued an order pertaining to the Electric Resource Plan for the company’s Black Hills Energy – Colorado Electric utility providing the opportunity to construct and operate two LMS-100 natural gas turbines to serve a portion of the customer requirements when the utility’s current power purchase agreement expires on December 31, 2011. On March 25, 2009 Black Hills Energy – Colorado Electric issued a 2009 Non-intermittent Resource Solicitation to request bids that will determine how the remaining customer requirements will be supplied. The company’s nonregulated power generation subsidiary may submit a bid to supply all or a portion of those resource requirements.

Dividends

Common shareholders will receive $0.355 per share. Dividends will be payable June 1, 2009, to all shareholders of record at the close of business on May 18, 2009.