BLACK HILLS, S.D. (MITCHELLNOW) Black Hills Energy is starting a new wildfire safety plan this summer by shutting off power during extreme weather in western South Dakota. The company will selectively cut power to reduce wildfire risk, following in the footsteps of utilities in states like California. Local emergency officials support the effort but say they worry about the impact on first responders who rely on power for communication and water. Outages could last several days depending on conditions. Black Hills Energy is urging customers in fire-prone areas to update their contact info to get outage alerts. For more Government stories from MitchellNow.com, Click Here.