Blackstone plans to acquire multi-utility TXNM, raising concerns about energy affordability 

TXNM, parent company to two electric utilities, PNM and TNMP, announced plans to be acquired by Blackstone’s Infrastructure platform in May of 2025 in a $11.5 billion take-private deal. This proposed acquisition would impact PNM and TNMP’s combined 800,000 residential and business customers in New Mexico and Texas, respectively. Blackstone has indicated that the firm is looking to purchase TXNM through its Blackstone Infrastructure Partners (BIP) evergreen fund. BIP investors include the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS), the Teachers’s Retirement System of Texas (TRS), the New Mexico State Investment Council (SIC), the Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS), the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS), the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, an anchor investment, and others. The Saudi Arabia PIF is the largest investor in the fund earmarked for the utility acquisition, investing $20 billion in the fund, half of the total initial equity investment.

To complete the proposed acquisition, Blackstone and TXNM must obtain approvals from a variety of state and federal regulatory agencies, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (NM PRC) and the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT).

How would this impact ratepayers – where proposed benefits fall short 

In order for state utility regulators to approve this deal, it must be deemed to be in the public interest. The joint application from Blackstone and TXNM outlines provisions that attempt to make that legal argument. Predominantly, Blackstone proposes to be a long-term partner with the ability to provide adequate capital to the utilities, it will provide a sum of capital to be used for customer rate credits and economic development support, and Blackstone will retain local leadership and management. Digging into the details of these proposed benefits shows they only scratch the surface of what may be needed to provide true ratepayer protections against the proposed risks of the acquisition. 

Blackstone describes its intention as TXNM’s ultimate owner to be that of a longer-term investor that will look to “serve customers and local communities for years to come” rather than focus on short term gains. That being said, an expert witness on behalf of the Texas Industrial Energy Consumers, an association of industrial energy consumers, who has access to non-public trade secret information provided by Blackstone, describes Blackstone’s plan to meet the capital needs of TNMP to be by using double leverage to increase returns. This type of leverage allows private equity investors to maximize returns by placing debt on companies the firm owns while contributing less equity in the transaction. This high risk tactic is known for amplifying returns for investors while risking financial strain at the portfolio company, which is responsible for paying back that debt. 

Highlighted throughout the applications for approval by state regulators in Texas and New Mexico is a customer rate credit that would temporarily reduce bill amounts by a few dollars. The proposed credit is for New Mexico $105 million over four years. This credit may seem like a large sum of money, but distributed among PNM’s 550,000 customers, it would result in $47 a year, or about $4 a month, to each customer. Without promises to stabilize rates, those small gains could be lost ifBlackstone and TXNM file a rate case, asking the respective state regulators to raise rates. In Texas, Blackstone will be providing a $45 million rate credit over 4 years, which is about $14 per customer per month to TNMP’s over 265,000 customers.

How would this impact ratepayers – potential issues

In addition to the shortcomings of Blackstone’s proposed benefits, there are a number of additional issues that utility regulators should consider when making decisions regarding the public interest of this acquisition.

Data centers 

Blackstone has not been shy about the firm’s enthusiasm for investing in data centers or participating in the AI boom, which some experts have called a bubble. Blackstone currently manages $85 billion worth of data centers globally and continues to invest in the sector for the long term. Notably, Blackstone acquired QTS Realty Trust in 2021 in part with its BIP platform. QTS is currently the largest data center operator in the world. With data centers contributing to an all-time high electricity consumption in the US in 2024, Blackstone’s motivations to materialize investments across the AI supply chain are clear, with language like this appearing on its webpage: “We have built the largest and fastest growing data center business in the world in partnership with incredibly talented teams at our portfolio companies. For years now, we have been planting the seeds for future growth and are positioning ourselves for continued leadership over the long term.”

Blackstone’s ambitions have caught the attention of Congress. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Richard Blumenthal sent a letter to Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman outlining their concerns with the “firm’s recent acquisitions of publicly traded utility companies, and the extent to which these acquisitions allow you to profit from rising energy demands at the expense of consumers, utility workers, and everyday Americans trying to make their ends meet.” In the letter, the Senators expressed concerns related to potential anti-competitive effects of Blackstone owning both data centers and electrical utilities and, electricity affordability with the proposed TXNM acquisition.  

Blackstone’s concerning track record of raising costs and safety risks in other industries

Blackstone is famous for being the world’s largest landlord, and has faced criticism for evictions, rent hikes, and lobbying against rent control. A 2023 Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) report found that in one county alone, Blackstone purchased over 5,000 naturally occurring affordable housing units and raised the rents between 43-64% in 2 years. The report also documented cases of Blackstone evicting tenants who owed just one month’s rent.

In addition to Blackstone’s poor track record as a responsible landlord to its tenants, the firm has faced numerous scandals related to negligent labor practices. The 2023 Private Equity Labor Scorecard found Blackstone to receive an F, performing the worst in reported wage and hour violations compared to its private equity peers. Among Blackstone’s most notorious labor violations are related to a Department of Labor investigation that found the Blackstone-owned Packers Sanitation had hired more than 100 children working in hazardous jobs, under illegal conditions with multiple children suffering injuries. Children had been hired to work at the slaughterhouse cleaning company after Blackstone had acquired the company, and Blackstone ultimately had to pay a $1.5 million fine to the DOL. As a result of this mismanagement, Moody’s downgraded PSSI due to “the loss of contracts and lawsuits related to labor issues,” leading to concerns about “management credibility and track record risk”. Blackstone’s application claims this acquisition will project jobs and wages for union workers, but there are limited details for how the firm plans to ensure workforce benefits and standards are maintained.

PESP’s role and community involvement

PESP is an intervenor in the docket for the TXNM acquisition at FERC, along with Public Citizen, Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association. PESP and Public Citizen jointly filed a motion stating that FERC should find the federal application for the acquisition of TXNM by Blackstone to be deficient, as the application provides little detail about the proposed po

st-transaction corporate structure of TXNM and that the post-acquisition structure could lead to cross-subsidization of non-utility companies within Blackstone’s many subsidiaries. CBD has submitted a protest and reply in the docket outlining similar and additional concerns that the application as-submitted, stating that the proposal lacks detail about what, if any, safeguards will exist between TXNM and Blackstone’s related companies. For example, CBD poses the question of whether TXNM will serve Blackstone-owned data centers. On December 23, 2025, FERC found Blackstone’s application to be deficient and is requiring the company to submit additional information to protect customers from cross-subsidization of other Blackstone-owned companies.

Additionally, PESP is participating in the New Mexico contested case as an expert witness for intervenor New Energy Economy, a grassroots and policy advocacy nonprofit in New Mexico working to radically transform their energy systems. New Energy Economy is among a long list of intervenors in Blackstone’s proposed acquisition of their local utility, including:

• Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA)
• Center for Biological Diversity (CBD)
• Western Resource Advocates
• New Mexico Affordable Reliable Energy Alliance (NM AREA)
• New Mexico Department of Justice (NMDOJ) 
• The Energy, Conservation and Management Division (ECAM) of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD)
• Renewable Energy Industries Association of New Mexico (REIA-NM)
• Walmart Inc.
• Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA)
• Laborers’ International Union of North America, Local Union No. 16 (LIUNA Local 16)
• The Board Commissioners of Bernalillo County
• Interwest Energy Alliance
• The Kroger Co.
• the Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy (CCAE)
• Prosperity Works
• The New Mexico Consumer Protection Alliance (NMCPA)
• City of Albuquerque
• Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment, Naeva, San Juan Citizens Alliance, and Tó Nizhóní Aní, (together “Community Groups”)

Some interveners have already indicated concerns over the risk that Blackstone taking over the utility would lead to dramatic increases in energy bills. The Kroger Co.intervened as one of PNM’s largest commercial customers and voiced concerns that the cost of electricity could be “substantially impacted” by Blackstone’s purchase of the utility.

NM PRC staff and intervenors have until March 6, 2026 to file direct testimony about the proposed takeover and whether the acquisition would be aligned with the public interest. There will then be a hearing in May of 2026 which will be livestreamed for public viewing. Additionally, there is an opportunity for the public to weigh in with written public comments directly to the NM PRC. More information about submitting public comments can be found on the NM PRC website.

New Mexicans are already vocalizing their concerns about Blackstone controlling their electricity prices. The New Mexico No False Solutions Coalition (NM NFS) highlighted concerns about corporate overreach with Alejandria Lyons, Coalition Coordinator of NM NFS saying “Blackstone is not a climate savior. They are a trillion-dollar private equity giant that profits from housing shortages, rising costs of living, and the climate crisis itself. Handing over our utility system to Wall Street investors will only deepen corporate overreach into the essentials of daily life.” Additionally, youth organizers with Youth for Climate Crisis (YUCCA) NM were arrested outside of the Blackstone headquarters in New York City during a protest of the proposed acquisition during NYC Climate Week.