The Iowa Utilities Commission is evaluating potential penalties and corrective action for Black Hills Energy following a hearing Thursday on an investigation into the gas company’s safety and management practices. The Iowa Captial Dispatch reports routine inspections from IUC revealed Black Hills Energy had disproportionally more instances of probable violations than the other top gas providers in Iowa over the past several years. The IUC also flagged that Black Hills has significantly longer correction times for probable violations than the other major gas providers. Black Hills representatives acknowledged that the number of probable violation instances was high in a recent audit and said the company has a “structured continuous improvement approach” to address the commission’s concerns and improve compliance. The findings from the recent reports pertained to issues like compliance, documentation, maintenance, corrosion prevention or facility maintenance, according to Black Hills’ filing. In its response to IUC’s notice, Black Hills contended that civil penalties were “not warranted” as part of the commission’s review.
