South Dakota’s largest solar farm just came online
National Grid Renewables just brought South Dakota’s largest solar farm online in Pennington County.
Wild Springs is a 128-megawatt (MW) solar farm in the Southwest Power Pool, which manages the central US’s electric grid and wholesale power market. The solar farm has a 114 MW power purchase agreement with the utility Basin Electric Power Cooperative.
Wild Springs is expected to provide approximately $29.5 million in direct economic impact, including $12 million in new tax revenue, over the first 20 years of operations.
It will generate enough clean electricity to power the equivalent of around 37,000 homes each year. Wild Springs will avoid 190,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually – the equivalent of removing 42,000 cars from the road.
Additionally, in what National Grid Renewables says is “unique” to the company, the project will also contribute $500,000 in charitable giving to the local New Underwood school district over the first 20 years of operations. Jack Trullinger, the mayor of New Underwood, said that “the predicted tax revenue along with the generous charitable contribution to the school district is a very welcome bonus.”
Solar is fledgling in South Dakota and not expected to grow – according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the state has 268 MW of installed solar. It’s ranked 42nd among states for installed solar and is expected to drop to 47th place in the next five years. However, the Mount Rushmore State is a wind powerhouse – in 2022, wind provided 55% of South Dakota’s total in-state net generation, a larger share than in all other states except Iowa.
Overall, renewable resources provided about 84% of South Dakota’s in-state electricity net generation in 2022. The EIA points out that “South Dakota uses less total petroleum than all but two other states and the District of Columbia, but because of the state’s small population [900,000+], it uses more petroleum per capita than all but eight other states.”
Bismarck, North Dakota-based utility Basin Electric, which is purchasing Wild Springs’ solar power, went with the “all-of-the-above” line. Chris Baumgartner, Basin Electric’s senior vice president of member and external relations, said:
We are excited to add solar to our all-of-the-above generation portfolio which includes dispatchable resources such as coal and natural gas and non-dispatchable resources such as wind and now solar.
The Bismarck-based utility announced last month that it’s planning to build a multi-billion-dollar natural gas-fired power generation facility in North Dakota, which would become its largest power plant. North Dakota has an excess of natural gas as a byproduct of oil production.
Read more: Oxford sets a new world record for solar panel efficiency
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Environment
Oil prices jump more than 3%, adding to last week’s surge, as Israel strikes Iran energy facilities
Kenworth has announced the addition of Bendix’ Fusion advanced driver assist system (ADAS) to its line of options on the T680 line of Class 8 commercial semi trucks – a lineup that includes the Next Generation T680E battery electric semi truck.
One of the many new trucks revealed at the 2025 ACT Expo in Anaheim, California earlier this year, the Next Generation Kenworth T680E featured the latest advancements in battery-electric technology, an enhanced exterior design, and a suite of new, in-cab technology that extends to the addition of three Bendix Fusion version: ADAS, ADAS PRO, and ADAS PREMIER.
All three of the announced ADAS packages offer updated Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with ACC Stop and Auto Go™, a new Pedestrian Autonomous Emergency Braking (PAEB) feature, and a new High Beam Assist feature to reduce the likelihood of blinding oncoming drivers supported by the addition of a new forward-looking camera.
Those updates are in addition to the ADAS units Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), Multi-Lane Autonomous Emergency Braking, Highway Departure Braking (HDB), and Stationary Vehicle Braking (SVB), Lane Departure Warning, and Bendix® Blindspotter® Side Object Detection already available on previous versions of the ADAS-equipped Kenworth.
Kenworth migital mirrors
Now that we’ve got that acronym-loaded word-salad out of the way, we can get to the point: the newest generation of electric trucks is easier and safer to drive – and not just safer for the truck’s operators, but for the people who share the roads with them, too.
Kenworth T680E electric semi
The Next-Generation T680E is available with up to 605 peak hp and 1,850 lb-ft of torque from a PACCAR Integrated ePowertrain fed from a 500 kWh li-ion battery pack good for more than 200 miles of loaded range. The updated Class 8 BEV is rated up to 82,000 lb. gross vehicle weight ratings (GVWR), and can get that load back up to speed quickly with a 350 kW peak charge rate that means the T680E can charge up to 90% in just two hours.
That system isn’t just more efficient than the first generation truck, it’s also more serviceable than it was before.
“This move to a fully integrated and ground-up PACCAR design means we were able to design for enhanced serviceability,” explains Joe Adams, Kenworth’s chief engineer. “Providing easier access to the Master Service Disconnects for improved safety and increased uptime and allowing the use of the DAVIE service tool for troubleshooting and diagnostics.”
The Next Generation Kenworth T680E electric semi truck is designed for short and regional-haul, LTL, and drayage operations. It’s available as a day cab as either a tractor or straight truck in a 6×4 axle configuration.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Kenworth; via Kenworth.
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Just like it says on the tin – retailers are advertising killer deals on the fun-to-drive Kia Niro EV, with one midwest auto dealer reporting more than $10,000 off the sticker price of the Niro EV Wind. That’s nearly 25% off the top line price!
SKIP THE STORY: get straight to the deals.
The Kia Niro EV gets overshadowed by its objectively excellent EV6 and EV9 stablemates – both of which are currently available with substantial lease cash and 0% APR financing, in fact – but that doesn’t mean it’s not an excellent little electric runabout in its own right.
The last time I had a Niro EV tester, my kids loved it, I liked that it was quicker and more tossable than I expected it to be, and my wife liked the fact that “it doesn’t look electric. It looks normal.” And, with well over 200 miles of real world range (EPA-rated range is 253 miles), it was more than up to the task of commuting around Chicago and making the trip up to the Great Wolf Lodge in Gurnee and back without even needing to look for a charger.
It’s not the primary family hauler I’d choose – but as a second car? As a primary car for a slightly smaller family (1-2 kids, instead of 3-4)? The Kia Niro EV Wind, with a $42,470 MSRP, seems like a solid, “can’t go wrong” sort of choice. You know?
You won’t even have to pay that much, though. Raymond Kia in Antioch, Illinois is advertising a $42,470 Niro EV for $32,431 (that’s $10,039, or about 24% off the MSRP), and several others are advertising prices in the $33,000 range.
And, while we’re at it:
Kia Niro EV gallery
SOURCE | IMAGES: CarsDirect, Edmunds, Raymond Kia.
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