Black Hills Corp. to Acquire Energy West Wyoming Gas Utility and Pipeline Assets in Northwestern Wyoming

RAPID CITY, S.D. - October 14, 2014 - Black Hills Corp. BKH today entered into an agreement to acquire the stock of Energy West Wyoming, Inc., a Wyoming gas utility, and pipeline assets from Energy West Development, Inc., both indirect, wholly owned subsidiaries of Gas Natural, Inc. (NYSE MKT: EGAS).

Black Hills Corp. will acquire the utility business and pipeline assets for $17 million, subject to customary closing adjustments. The gas utility currently serves approximately 6,700 customers, including service to Cody, Ralston and Meeteetse, Wyoming.  The pipeline assets include a 30 mile gas transmission pipeline and a 42 mile gas gathering pipeline, both located near the utility service territory. Black Hills intends to operate the utility under the name Black Hills Energy.

"This acquisition is an excellent fit for Black Hills and allows us to leverage our scale, commitment to the state of Wyoming and 131 years of experience providing customers with safe and reliable energy," said Linn Evans, Black Hills Corp.'s president and chief operating officer of utilities. "We are making progress in our strategy to grow our customer base through acquiring utilities near our existing operations.  Specifically, this acquisition, in conjunction with our pending acquisition of MGTC, will expand our Wyoming operations."

The transaction requires approval by the Wyoming Public Service Commission, the Montana Public Service Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and is expected to close within six to 12 months. The company expects the purchase to be slightly accretive to earnings after the first full year of Black Hills' ownership.

"We look forward to welcoming these new customers and employees to the Black Hills family," continued Evans. "Black Hills will continue to support regional economic development efforts and local civic and charitable activities in addition to offering customers additional resources to manage their energy consumption."

Black Hills Corporation
Black Hills Corp. BKH is a growth-oriented, vertically-integrated energy company with a tradition of exemplary service and a vision to be the energy partner of choice. Based in Rapid City, S.D., the company serves 777,000 natural gas and electric utility customers in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. The company generates wholesale electricity and produces natural gas, oil and coal. Black Hills Corp.'s 1,948 employees partner to produce results that are improving life with energy. More information is available at www.blackhillscorp.com.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release includes "forward-looking statements" as defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. We make these forward-looking statements in reliance on the safe harbor protections provided under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this news release that address activities, events or developments that we expect, believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future are forward looking statements. These include, without limitation, the Company's expectation of timing and ability to successfully complete the acquisition and the acquisition's accretion to earnings. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions which we believe are reasonable based on current expectations and projections about future events and industry conditions and trends affecting our business. However, whether actual results and developments will conform to our expectations and predictions is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that, among other things, could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including the factors discussed above, the risk factors described in Item 1A of Part I of our 2013 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC, and other reports that we file with the SEC from time to time.