WARN Project - West River Electric Association | Rushmore Electric Power Cooperative

Our WARN Project

West River Electric Association joined a consortium of 37 electric co-ops and other rural utilities selected to receive federal funding through the Wildfire Assessment and Resilience for Networks project, or “WARN.”

WREA's project seeks to replace overhead powerlines with underground lines in Pennington County in the Rapid City area (see map on this page). This project will eliminate wildfire risks inherent for overhead power line conductor and overhead recloser operations. The estimated project cost including ditching, labor and materials is $2,841,719.

Project Area Map

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West River Electric Association (WREA) provides safe, reliable and affordable energy and services that improve the quality of life for our members and their communities. Founded in 1939, WREA serves more than 15,000 members in Western South Dakota, in the counties of Haakon, Jackson, Meade, Oglala Lakota, Pennington and Ziebach. WREA’s peak demand is 85 MW, with 2,279 miles of energized power lines, and 59 employees.

WREA is a member of a consortium of 37 electric co-ops and other rural utilities selected to receive federal funding through the Wildfire Assessment and Resilience for Networks project, or “WARN.”

The project area is located along Radar Hill Road, near the Rapid City Regional Airport. The project would underground 5.3 miles of line to reduce the risk of wildfire. Approximately 102 power poles would be removed (5.3 miles, approximately 275 feet between poles). All overhead fuses in these areas would also be removed.

The conversion will enhance system reliability, safety, and aesthetics. The scope of work includes trench excavation, conduit installation, cable pulling, splicing, and termination at designated transformer and service points. Existing poles, the overhead conductor, and associated overhead equipment will be removed upon completion of the underground installation.

The new underground system will maintain the same voltage class and service area while being designed and constructed in accordance with IEEE, RUS, and NESC standards. Protective equipment such as pad-mounted transformers, switchgear, and junction cabinets will be installed to improve reliability, sectionalizing capability, and operational flexibility.

Construction activities will be performed in compliance with utility specifications, applicable environmental regulations, and best management practices to minimize soil disturbance, erosion, and other environmental impacts.

Undergrounding will reduce visual impacts, minimize vegetation clearance needs, and lower environmental disturbance in sensitive habitats. The underground configuration will improve system resilience against wind, ice, and storm-related outages while reducing long-term vegetation management requirements. By eliminating the overhead conductor and removing reclosers and fuses from overhead power lines, the project will significantly reduce the potential for utility-caused wildfire ignition and enhance public safety.

The project will be coordinated with local jurisdictions, agencies, and property owners to minimize disruptions during construction. Upon completion, the underground facilities will undergo inspection, testing, and commissioning to verify compliance with all applicable standards and ensure long-term operational performance.

Per the 2020 United States Census, Rapid City’s population is 74,703. The area includes residential homes as well as biking and hiking trails used by those living in the surrounding area.

Cloudfire Inc. performed an independent wildfire risk analysis for the entire service area of West River Electric Association. This risk analysis first identifies the risk of igniting a fire along the utility’s lines. This is determined by considering historic weather conditions, vegetation and wildfire fuels, geological features, and various other factors. For each possible ignition, several thousand potential fires are simulated. These simulations are used to compute the cost of damage to structures from the resulting wildfires, and potential damage to utility infrastructure that might exacerbate conditions. The final wildfire risk determination models a combination of the probability of igniting a wildfire, and the extent of damage that could potentially be caused by the wildfire. The risk areas are provided as a color mapping over the utility’s service area. This can be used to determine the critical areas for wildfire hardening that will serve the best returns on investment.

This document highlights the WARN subproject of WREA in relation to the wildfire risk map described above, and how the Grid Upgrade Plan addresses these risks.

After Cloudfire Inc. provided the risk map data, we identified these highest areas of importance within our service territory:

The central and northern areas
Much of Custer County and a significant portion of the Black Hills

This proposed Grid Upgrade Plan includes the following area identified by Cloudfire’s model:

Along Radar Hill Road, near the Rapid City Regional Airport (~45 percent utility wildfire risk)

In addition to Cloudfire’s assessment, our project addresses the following important considerations that formed the basis for our proposal:

WREA provides retail electric service to rural homes and businesses in Haakan, Jackson, Meade, Oglala Lakota, Pennington, and Ziebach Counties. Our service area is situated on the outskirts of the Black Hills – in close proximity to the popular tourist destinations of Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorial. Currently, FEMA grades parts of our service area (Pennington County) in the 85^th percentile for utility wildfire risk. Of note: In the spring and summer of 2025, we received significant rainfall, lowering our FEMA Wildfire Risk Index percentiles compared to recent years. Although the precipitation provides a welcome reprieve from recent drought conditions, we expect our wildfire risk to increase sooner rather than later.

Our WARN project involves undergrounding the power line along Radar Hill Road in Pennington County, near the Rapid City Regional Airport and Ellsworth Air Force Base, which contains grid components that are 57 years old. Undergrounding at this site will reduce significant wildfire risk and electric reliability concerns.

Based on these considerations, we have proposed this Grid Upgrade Plan to best serve our members and secure the most value for our investment.

From the above analysis, it is clear that this project areas present a significant concern for wildfires. Our proposed Grid Upgrade Plan addresses these risks by:

Undergrounding the power line and removing the existing overhead power line

The project will take approximately 2 years, with construction broken up into four stages to be completed in the months of April through November in consecutive years.

Design: 3-6 months
Permitting: Overhead easements will be replaced with underground easements.
Construction: April – November 2026-2027. Undergrounding a distribution line along the road will require some level of traffic control, and the operation of large excavation equipment along with maneuvering large reels of primary cable. Some disruption to traffic flow is inevitable.
Operation: Moving overhead electrical systems to underground includes converting overhead services to underground services requiring utility line workers and operations personnel.

At 5:30 PM, on 01/07/25, at its Rapid City office (3250 E Hwy 44), WREA hosted a kickoff meeting to introduce the project to interested community members. WREA noticed the meeting in the Pennington County Courant and on its website. Four members attended the kickoff meeting, reviewing the project’s objectives, its funding (partially federally funded), construction location (large project construction site map), construction timeline, and anticipated benefits. Attendees expressed support for the project and had no negative feedback or requested project changes.

Our WARN Project

Project Area Map

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Consortium member information

Project description

Technical specifications and communities & consumers impacted

Wildfire risk analysis

Benefits

Timeline

Consumer feedback

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