Private Equity's Utility Spending Spree Threatens New Mexico

[Celerity]

Two firms are vying for control over much of New Mexico’s energy infrastructure, but consumer advocates are fighting back.

https://prospect.org/2025/12/10/private-equitys-utility-spending-spree-threatens-new-mexico/


High-tension power lines carry electricity across the northern New Mexico high desert plain. Credit: RobertDodge/iStock

New Mexico is the fifth-largest state by landmass. With its abundance of sunshine and wind, the Land of Enchantment is “a natural location for renewable energy production and clean energy jobs,” the New Mexico State Land Office explains on its website. This ample renewable generation capacity has positioned New Mexico well to supply clean energy to Western states. According to Mariel Nanasi, executive director and president of New Energy Economy (NEE), “New Mexico can not only meet all of its energy needs through renewables and storage but could also produce electricity for the highly consumptive and populous states of Arizona and California.” Using transmission interties and wholesale market arrangements, it often does just that.

But Nanasi and her organization have sounded the alarm on a bid by Blackstone, the world’s largest private equity firm, to acquire TXNM Energy for $11.5 billion. Announced in May, the deal would give Blackstone control of TXNM subsidiaries Texas-New Mexico Power and the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), which serve 800,000 customers. Unlike a leveraged buyout, the acquisition would be fully funded with equity. For Nanasi, the proposed acquisition threatens to harm ratepayers by enabling the construction of data centers across New Mexico, rather than supplying affordable power to those who need it. “Blackstone sees this purchase as a very important strategic foray into the West,” she told the Prospect.

Before obtaining TXNM, Blackstone must secure regulatory approval from the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, or PRC. Blackstone also finds itself at the center of an ongoing Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) proceeding, the outcome of which will determine whether the world’s largest alternatives asset manager can acquire TXNM without undermining wholesale competition or transmission service, causing undue cross-subsidization, or adversely impacting consumers. NEE has intervened in all three proceedings.

Blackstone is not the only private equity player carving up New Mexico’s utility infrastructure. Bernhard Capital Partners, a smaller private equity firm based in Louisiana, has been seeking regulatory approval for its proposed acquisition of New Mexico Gas Company (NMGC), the state’s largest natural gas utility. Bernhard reached an agreement with Emera, the utility’s parent company, to acquire NMGC for approximately $1.3 billion last year. The firm also owns traditional energy assets in Louisiana and Mississippi, after acquiring CenterPoint Energy and Entergy’s natural gas distribution businesses earlier this year.

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