Blackstone’s utility playbook: NIPSCO and the future of TXNM

NIPSCO as a test case: what Blackstone ownership could mean for TXNM customers

As the over 800,000 TXNM customers gear up for state utility regulators to decide whether to approve the sale of their local electric utility to private equity firm Blackstone, many are wondering whether the private equity giant would be a good steward of people’s electricity as the greater affordability crisis looms over the country. 

Blackstone has a pending application to acquire TXNM, the parent company of PNM in New Mexico and TNMP in Texas. Blackstone does not solely own any utilities like the firm is proposing to do with TXNM, but Blackstone does own a 19.9% stake in Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), which serves over 1.4 million electric and gas customers across Indiana. Blackstone, through Blackstone Infrastructure Partners fund (BIP),  acquired the stake in NIPSCO for $2.16 billion in June 2024. At the time, NIPSCO stated that the company intended to use Blackstone’s investment to modernize its gas and electric transmission systems and replace coal-fired generation with renewable generation.

Although Blackstone is not the sole owner of NIPSCO, the utility’s decision-making after Blackstone acquired its stake in the utility may be a useful gauge for what TXNM customers may expect if Blackstone is allowed to purchase their electric utility. Blackstone’s application states “Within the power & utility sector, Blackstone Infrastructure holds investments in FirstEnergy, Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), and Invenergy, the largest private renewables developer in the United States. This combination of investment strength and experience in the utility industry will benefit our customers.”

NIPSCO Customers Feel Pressure from Rate Hikes

NIPSCO is also facing criticism around affordability and rate increases. NIPSCO’s electricity rates are the highest in the state, and now customers are seeing rates go up again, with some experiencing double or triple increases in the last year. Last year NIPSCO received approval for a 16.75 % rate increase to be rolled out over the following 2 years. The utility claimed the higher bills are due to market demand, weather conditions, and costs of upgrading infrastructure, but some customers believe the utility is focused more on profits than consumers.

The Facebook group, “NIPSCO Monopoly Madness” has grown to over 30,000 members and protesters gathered outside the NIPSCO headquarters on February 1st demanding answers as to why their energy bills continue to rise. Customer Kim Robison said  to WGN9 “I’ve never seen anything like this in my whole life. I’ve lived in my house for 35 years and it’s normally like $300 in the water. It’s $800 now”.

State Regulators and Legislators on the Hook for NIPSCO Affordability Problem 

The dramatic increase in energy bills caught the attention of Indiana state legislators who have proposed legislation to protect the ability of residents to receive affordable energy. House Bill 1002 recently passed the Indiana State House of Representatives.  The bill offers levelized bill plans, where customers pay their averaged utility amounts, and prohibits shutoffs in extreme weather. 

State policymakers are not the only Indiana officials looking more closely at NIPSCO’s practices. The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) is formally investigating the utility over issues with “a not-insignificant number of its natural gas meters”. The investigation follows the company’s rollout of new gas meters that can read customer meters without sending a person to read the meter.

Failed QTS Data Center Proposal Sparks Conflict of Interest Debate

Some NIPSCO customers have strongly signaled their distrust of the data center industry with fierce backlash over two proposed Blackstone-backed data centers. Blackstone-owned QTS withdrew its application for approval of two data centers in September 2025 after months of community pushback.

The relationship between Blackstone, NIPSCO, and QTS caught the attention of the Porter County Board of Commissioners President Jim Biggs, who explained that communication from NIPSCO and QTS about their mutual affiliation with Blackstone was lacking in details and timeliness at a public meeting:

“To date, the Porter County Board of Commissioners has not received a complete response from NIPSCO or QTS concerning this affiliation. To say that communication has been slow coming into our planning department would be an understatement,” he added.

NIPSCO’s New Subsidiary Does Data Center Dirty Work

About a year after Blackstone’s investment, The Times Media reported NIPSCO reached a deal to provide power to data centers belonging to an unnamed corporation. Around the same time, NIPSCO created a subsidiary, NIPSCO Generation (GenCo), to serve data centers. NIPSCO claims this new structure allows NIPSCO to build out electricity infrastructure for Amazon, and other data centers without passing along costs to ratepayers. However, consumer advocate Benjamin Inskeep, Program Director at Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, Inc.,  cautioned that wear and tear on the electrical system caused by these large power users is not adequately reflected in the GenCo structure and may leave ratepayers vulnerable, stating “while large load customers like Amazon result in more electric sales, spreading out the costs of existing system assets, large load customers will also impose increased costs on the shared system that will create upwards pressure on rates of a currently unknown magnitude.”

NIPSCO, via GenCo, is planning to build a 2,300 MW gas-fired power plant to service these data centers which critics worry will be able to circumvent regulatory proceedings before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, including limited or no public input.  

In addition to the lack of regulatory oversight, the proposed power plant would potentially emit 7 million tons of carbon dioxide a year, making it the third most polluting industrial facility in the state. Advocates see NIPSCO’s new subsidiary and proposed gas power plant as a reversal of the company’s prior strategy, which was focused on retiring fossil fuel generation and adding more renewable energy.

Blackstone Touts NIPSCO Experience as Reason to Approve TXNM Acquisition

Blackstone touts its investments in NIPSCO and other companies within the utility sector as relevant expertise for its proposed acquisition of TXNM.

As utility regulators weigh whether a Blackstone-owned TXNM is in the public interest of ratepayers, looking to Blackstone’s other utility investments will be a crucial indicator of what TXNM customers can expect.