Guarantees Guarantees (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Schedule of Guarantor Obligations [Table Text Block]

We had the following guarantees in place (in thousands):



	Maximum Exposure at
Nature of Guarantee	December 31, 2011		Year Expiring
Guarantees of payment obligations arising from commodity-related physical and financial transactions of Black Hills Utility Holdings ⁽¹⁾	$	70,000	Ongoing
Guarantees for payment obligations arising from purchase contracts for four gas turbines for Black Hills Colorado IPP⁽²⁾	384		2012
Guarantees for payment obligations arising from purchase contracts for two gas turbines for Colorado Electric⁽³⁾	56		2012
Guarantee for payment obligations relating to a contract to construct 16 wind turbines at Colorado Electric⁽⁴⁾	33,264		January 15, 2013
Indemnification for subsidiary reclamation/surety bonds ⁽⁵⁾	18,601		Ongoing
Guarantee for payment obligations arising from natural gas transportation, storage and services agreement for Black Hills Utility Holdings ⁽⁶⁾	10,000		July 31, 2012
Guarantee for performance and payment obligation of Black Hills Utility Holdings for natural gas supply ⁽⁷⁾	7,500		June 30, 2012
	$	139,805

(1)

We have guaranteed some of the obligations of Black Hills Utility Holdings for payment obligations arising from commodity-related physical and financial transactions with BP Energy Company and/or BP Canada Energy Marketing Corp, Northern Natural Gas Company and PSCo. These commodity transactions secure natural gas supply for our regulated gas utilities. The guarantee is a continuing guarantee that may be terminated upon 30 days written notice to the counterparty.


(2)	We have issued four guarantees to GE for payment obligations arising from contracts to purchase four LM6000 gas turbines for Black Hills Colorado IPP. These are continuous guarantees which will terminate upon settlement of all obligations.


(3)	We have issued two guarantees to GE for payment obligations arising from a contract to purchase two LMS100 natural gas turbine generators by Colorado Electric, which will be used in meeting a portion of the capacity and energy needs of our Colorado Electric customers. These are continuing guarantees which will terminate upon settlement of all obligations.


(4)	We have issued a guarantee to Vestas-American Wind Technology, Inc. for the performance and payment obligations of Colorado Electric relating to the purchase of wind turbines for the Colorado Electric wind power generation project. This guarantee will remain in effect until satisfaction of Colorado Electric's contractual obligations.


(5)	We have guarantees in place for reclamation and surety bonds for our subsidiaries. The guarantees were entered into in the normal course of business. To the extent liabilities are incurred as a result of activities covered by the surety bonds, such liabilities are included in our Consolidated Balance Sheets.


(6)	We issued a guarantee to Colorado Interstate Gas Company for payment obligations of Black Hills Utility Holdings related to natural gas transportation, storage and services agreements.


(7)	We issued a guarantee to Cross Timbers Energy Services for the performance and payment obligation of Black Hills Utility Holdings for natural gas supply purchase.

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of each guarantee obligation, or each group of similar guarantee obligations, including (a) the nature of the guarantee, including its term, how it arose, and the events or circumstances that would require the guarantor to perform under the guarantee; (b) the maximum potential amount of future payments (undiscounted) the guarantor could be required to make under the guarantee; (c) the current carrying amount of the liability, if any, for the guarantor's obligations under the guarantee; and (d) the nature of any recourse provisions under the guarantee, and any assets held either as collateral or by third parties, and any relevant related party disclosure. Excludes disclosures about product warranties.

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