Consumer Advocates Could Derail Blackstone's Utility Acquisition by James Baratta

[justaprogressive]

The statute governing utility acquisitions in New Mexico is unmistakably clear: stock of a utility or utility holding company may only be acquired “with the prior express authorization” of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC). Whether regulators overseeing Blackstone’s proposed acquisition of the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) enforce this statute remains an open question, but the law itself dictates that they should.

TXNM Energy, the utility holding company that owns PNM, agreed to be acquired by private equity giant Blackstone in May 2025. In a filing that was released earlier this month, TXNM announced plans to issue $800 million in new equity prior to the closing of the acquisition, which must be approved by the PRC. Of that total planned equity issuance, $400 million in TXNM shares were purchased by Blackstone through a private placement. The transaction closed in June 2025, just a month after the acquisition was disclosed. The New Mexico PRC did not authorize this purchase.

“This was not a technical oversight,” Mariel Nanasi, senior attorney and executive director at New Energy Economy, told the Prospect. “It was reckless disregard for New Mexico law and for the commission’s exclusive jurisdiction and authority.”

A spokesperson for Blackstone told the Prospect: “We strongly disagree with the positions taken in the motion and will refute them in a formal response at the earliest opportunity.”

The revealed transaction is the latest twist in the saga of Blackstone’s attempted purchase of a utility that will serve 800,000 customers in New Mexico and Texas, and which has run into vociferous opposition from consumer groups, amid broader consternation about rising utility rates and private takeovers of power companies.

Both Nanasi and Prosperity Works, another intervenor in the case, have asserted that since the transaction was explicitly tied to and executed as part of the merger agreement itself, it rises to the level of an acquisition step rather than an incidental investment. In the utility M&A space, routine equity financing amounts to a contractual obligation. Funding doesn’t come until regulators offer their seal of approval.

https://prospect.org/2026/02/19/blackstone-private-equity-utility-acquisition-new-mexico-public-service-txnm-energy/]

[dalton99a]

1. Private equity should be banned from healthcare, housing and essential services.