A group of 16 New Mexico lawmakers on Friday co-signed a letter to the Public Regulation Commission to oppose a private equity firm’s bid to acquire the state’s largest electric company.
Private equity firm Blackstone Infrastructure and PNM’s parent company, TXNM Energy Inc., first announced plans for the $11.5 billion acquisition in 2025, setting in motion regulatory hearings by the state Public Regulation Commission. While critics and public officials including the New Mexico attorney general have scrutinized the deal, supporters have long said private equity will be able to provide the cash infusion PNM needs to keep up in an ever-changing energy industry.
The lawmakers who signed onto Friday’s letter, though, aren’t convinced.
“We have seen no evidence that PNM cannot obtain necessary access to capital from other, less risky, sources,” they wrote. “We are concerned that PNM customers will be the next victims in Blackstone’s pursuit of shareholder profit.”
The letter cites a report from the New Mexico Foundation for Civic Excellence titled “Blackstone’s PNM Power Grab,” which alleged that Blackstone affiliates in other states have previously violated child labor laws.
The report credits a company named Ethos Research “for providing research and writing expertise for this report,” but does not list an author. Similarly, the New Mexico Foundation for Civic Excellence’s website does not identify the foundation’s board members or directors. It describes the organization as a nonprofit that “promotes civic action and advocacy” on environmental, economic and health-related matters.
In December, the progressive advocacy group Indivisible Albuquerque announced that it formed the Foundation for Civic Excellence as a sister organization to combat potential PNM acquisitions.
Blackstone did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
State regulatory staffers recently opened an investigation into whether a $400 million stock sale between TXNM and a Blackstone affiliate without prior PRC approval violated state law. The investigation followed the Albuquerque anti-poverty nonprofit Prosperity Works and New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez raising concerns over the transaction.
Officials from PNM and Blackstone have denied any wrongdoing and previously told Source NM that the sale “did not benefit or support” the proposed acquisition.
In Friday’s letter, New Mexico lawmakers said they feared the potential violation was indicative of a rushed process.
“It is our opinion that this violation is indicative of the most significant risk that the proposed acquisition poses — a takeover of one of the most vital parts of our public infrastructure by a private equity corporation that believes it can operate outside the bounds of regulatory oversight, and has the resources to do so,” they wrote, adding that they’re concerned the electricity will increasingly go toward energy-intensive developments such as data centers, rather than New Mexicans.
The letter was signed by state Reps. Marianna Anaya (D-Albuquerque), Eleanor Chávez (D-Albuquerque), Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe), Angelica Rubio (D-Las Cruces), Joanne Ferrary (D-Las Cruces), Janelle Anyanonu (D-Albuquerque), Patricia Roybal Caballero (D-Albuquerque), Elizabeth “Liz” Thomson (D-Albuquerque), Kathleen Cates (D-Rio Rancho) and Sens. Liz Stefanics (D-Cerillos), Harold Pope (D-Albuquerque), Linda López (D-Albuquerque), Carrie Hamblen (D-Las Cruces), Katy Duhigg (D-Albuquerque), Antoinette Sedillo Lopez (D-Albuquerque) and Angel Charley (D-Acoma).
