Big Stone II Project will not be built

MILBANK, SOUTH DAKOTA - MDU Resources Group, Inc. announced that the Big Stone II Project, a planned 500-to-600-megawatt coal-fired power plant to be located near Milbank, South Dakota, and its associated transmission, will not be built.

The projectÂ’s four participants include Montana-Dakota Utilities Co., a division of MDU Resources.

The project required additional participants to move forward; however none have committed.

Montana-Dakota President and Chief Executive Officer Dave Goodin said that, while itÂ’s disappointing that Big Stone II will not be built, the utility has an adequate electric supply for the near-term.

“We have a purchased power agreement through 2015 that was to bridge us to Big Stone II going online; we still have that agreement in place,” Goodin said. “We will now look at other supply options that are reliable and cost-beneficial for our customers. We have plans to expand our wind production by 30 megawatts in 2010 and will review other generation options.”

The other Big Stone II Project participants were Central Minnesota Municipal Power Agency, Heartland Consumers Power District and Missouri River Energy Services.