Crain’s Chicago op-ed: Questions surround Stonepeak in Chicago parking deal

Why is Chicago handing its parking meters to a firm tied to ICE deportation flights?

The following op-ed by PESP  communications director Matt Parr published in May in the Crain’s Chicago Business:

City Council should closely examine Stonepeak’s broader business operations and infrastructure footprint before approving the transfer

Chicago has spent more than a decade living with the consequences of one of the most infamous privatization deals in modern American history. Now, City Council is preparing to decide whether another private equity firm should take control of the city’s parking meter system for the decades ahead.

Last week, Crain’s Chicago Business reported that Stonepeak Partners has reached a deal to acquire Chicago Parking Meters LLC, the consortium that controls the city’s 75-year parking meter lease. The transfer still requires City Council approval.

Most of the discussion so far has focused, understandably, on the original 2008 agreement. Chicago leased away its parking meters for generations, while future administrations inherited the headaches: rising rates, redevelopment restrictions, and years of public frustration. Between 2009 and 2024, the meter system generated nearly $2 billion in revenue and approximately $1 billion in net operating income.

But as City Council weighs whether to approve this ownership transfer, Chicago officials should also ask a more immediate question: Who exactly is Stonepeak?

Stonepeak is a private equity firm with major investments across fossil fuel infrastructure, aviation, shipping, and transportation systems. Its broader portfolio has increasingly intersected with politically contentious issues in Chicago itself. Recent reporting showed that ICE deportation operations tied to Stonepeak-owned Omni Air International expanded significantly following the firm’s acquisition of the airline. That scrutiny comes as Chicago leaders and many alderpeople have publicly positioned themselves against aggressive federal immigration enforcement tactics.

The city should also examine Stonepeak’s expanding fossil fuel footprint. Recent analysis from the Private Equity Climate Risks consortium found Stonepeak was among the firms that increased the number of fossil fuel companies in its portfolio in 2025. According to the consortium’s research, 71% of the energy companies in Stonepeak’s portfolio were fossil fuel-based as of 2024.

Those investments stretch across liquid natural gas infrastructure, shipping, and energy transport systems. Recent research by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project identified 46 active LNG tankers backed by Stonepeak through its portfolio company Seapeak. Three of those vessels recently operated near the Strait of Hormuz amid escalating military and shipping tensions tied to the Iran conflict.

Chicago officials should also consider the broader public impact footprint tied to Stonepeak’s investments. Separate research from the Private Equity Climate Risks consortium estimated that facilities linked to Stonepeak are associated with roughly $55 million to $86 million in annual health-related costs nationwide, including approximately 2,800 asthma incidents and six premature deaths annually. In Illinois alone, Stonepeak-linked facilities were associated with an estimated $1.4 million to $2 million in annual health-related costs, with additional impacts concentrated in Cook County.

That scrutiny is particularly relevant given the city’s own stated priorities. Chicago leaders have repeatedly highlighted renewable energy investments and climate initiatives in recent years, including new rooftop solar projects and municipal renewable energy milestones. City officials should ask whether handing one of Chicago’s most controversial privatization deals to a private equity firm expanding its fossil fuel portfolio aligns with those broader goals.

The question before City Council is larger than parking meters alone. It is also about the broader business practices and infrastructure footprint of the firm seeking control of the system.

Chicago officials cannot undo the original parking meter privatization deal. But they still have the authority, and responsibility, to scrutinize the private equity firm now seeking control of the system. Before signing off on the transfer, City Council should require far more transparency about Stonepeak’s broader business operations and risk exposure, including its fossil fuel infrastructure holdings, ICE-linked aviation operations, and the public impacts associated with its infrastructure portfolio.

Chicago has already lived through the consequences of one parking meter deal negotiated with too little public scrutiny. City leaders should not make the same mistake again.